As briefly announced in our last issue (see EUROPE 12137), the meetings on Wednesday 14 November of the Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) in Brussels and the European Parliament negotiators in Strasbourg on the social and market aspects of the first ‘mobility’ package did not lead to agreement.
However, according to our information, the state of mind was very different in Coreper and Parliament.
A willingness to have an agreement in the Council. Indeed, the Coreper meeting is reported to have taken place in a peaceful context.
While Member States have expressed their traditional demands on key issues, highlighting significant differences, it would seem that the vast majority of them are inclined to reach a political agreement for the Transport Council meeting on 3 December. No national delegation is reported to have expressed its willingness to produce a simple progress report.
The ambassadors worked on the fourth draft compromises put on the table by the Austrian Presidency of the Council in advance of this meeting (see EUROPE 12135).
Several delegations from Eastern Europe were reportedly again strongly opposed to the approach taken by Vienna regarding the application of posting rules, and some delegations from Central or peripheral Europe reiterated their satisfaction, while advocating a broader exemption for partial or additional discharges that could be made in this context in Member States crossed on the way to and from bilateral operations (see EUROPE 12121).
It would also appear that progress is indeed being made towards the introduction of second-generation smart tachographs in all vehicles operating on the territory of other Member States by the end of 2024, despite the challenge from some Central and Eastern European States.
In addition, several delegations from Central, Eastern and peripheral Europe strongly opposed the de facto application of the synchronisation clause proposed by France and inserted into the latest texts, aimed at aligning the date of entry into force of the revised provisions on posting and the date of introduction of tachographs in vehicles mentioned above, 2024.
Significant differences remain in the use of regular weekly rest periods (45 hours or more) between the Central, Eastern and peripheral European States, which are to some extent favourable to this point, and the States of the road alliance (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Sweden), which are against them.
Similarly, there are still significant differences in assessment as to whether the truck returns to the company's State of establishment within a certain period of time, as well as for the duration of the cabotage cooling-off period before a new 'cabotage right' can be granted.
The ambassadors also discussed the issue of combined transport and, in particular, the exemption from cabotage rules, as part of the second ‘mobility’ package (see EUROPE 12120). Sweden and Denmark, supported overall by the Truck Alliance, recalled that they wished to reconsider the exemption from road cabotage rules in an international combined transport operation between Member States.
New texts should be submitted for the Coreper meeting next week. While everyone wants to achieve a general approach, this task will be complicated by the points of divergence mentioned above.
European Parliament voltages. The discussions in Parliament, although leading to a result similar to those in Coreper (no agreement), were apparently more lively. The debates brought together the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs of the Transport and Employment Committees in a format similar to the one recently adopted (see EUROPE 12123).
Wim van de Camp (EPP, Netherlands) and Merja Kyllönen (GUE/NGL, Finland) submitted new draft compromises last weekend on driving time and rest period, tachograph, and posting (see EUROPE 12135). Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany), for his part, had not presented any new text on cabotage because of the content of the other two texts.
It seems that the discussions were tense. Substantive discussions took place on the posting, especially on the threshold for cross-border transactions exempted from the posting rules, between the State of establishment of the company and another State in the context of an international transaction, or after that transaction. But between the supporters of the '0 operation' and those of a threshold raised to 6, 8 or 10 operations, no agreement was reached. And no longer on rest time.
Some bitter comments were also reportedly made concerning the lack of text on cabotage, with Mr Ertug reminding that he could not propose anything as it stood.
As proof of the tensions, Mr van de Camp reportedly stated that he no longer wanted to work in this format. This spirit is clearly shared by several negotiators.
It is therefore possible that a debate and vote could take place in Parliament's Transport Committee at the beginning of December for a vote in plenary session a few days later. And new texts, in particular distinguishing between domestic and international drivers in the context of rest and driving time, should soon be presented. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)