The third draft compromises of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the social and market aspects of the first ‘mobility’ package (posting of hauliers, driving and resting time, cabotage, tachograph), dated Tuesday 30 October, of which EUROPE has had a copy, propose only marginal changes to the previous draft compromises, which were put on the table in October (see EUROPE 12121, 12113).
These new texts were submitted to national delegations immediately after the informal meeting of EU Transport Ministers held in Graz, Austria, on 29 and 30 October.
Although these issues were not on the agenda of this meeting, which focused on the debate on the end of the clock change, the debates on the social and market aspects of international transport were held against the background. Many bilateral and multilateral meetings took place between national delegations (see EUROPE 12128, 12127).
The new draft compromises in Vienna therefore contain only very minor changes compared to the texts already discussed.
The recommendations on the application and exemptions of posting rules in international transport operations remain essentially the same, although new definitions are suggested to try to make the concepts clearer. It is also recommended that the provisions on posting should not apply to the initial or final road leg of an international combined transport operation, if this road leg takes the form of a bilateral transport operation. This proposal should be linked to the 'combined transport' dossier as part of the second ‘mobility’ package (see EUROPE 12120).
The Presidency takes a position in favour of applying the provisions of the Directive revised in 2024, aligning them with the application of the recommendations concerning the introduction of second-generation intelligent tachographs on board all vehicles operating in the territory of other Member States. This suggestion seems to echo the French proposal for a ‘synchronization clause’.
In the market access section, it should also be noted that Vienna wants a vehicle engaged in international operations to return on average within four weeks, over a period of one year, to the Member State where it is registered or put into circulation after leaving it. And he should return to this state no more than once every six weeks.
Calendar. These new draft compromises will be discussed in the Council's ‘Land transport’ working party on 5 and 6 November. A meeting of Member States' ambassadors to the EU ('Coreper') will also address these issues on 14 November.
Vienna still hopes that a political agreement between states ('general approach') will be reached at the meeting of transport ministers on 3 December. It should be noted that Violeta Bulc, the European Commissioner for Transport Policy, said she was "cautiously optimistic" about this outcome on Tuesday 30 October in Graz. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)