MEPs decided to reject (219 votes in favour, 267 against, 17 abstentions), at the opening of the European Parliament's mini plenary session on Wednesday 3 April, the request by several MEPs to remove from the agenda of this session the vote on the social and market aspects of the first mobility package (posting of drivers, driving time and rest periods, tachograph, cabotage and market access).
This time, the European Parliament in plenary must (finally) decide on these delicate issues relating to road transport. This was one week after Antonio Tajani, the President of the institution decided, when a vote was due to take place, to refer these dossiers to the Transport Committee before returning to plenary (see EUROPE 12223/1).
Just before this vote on the request to postpone the voting on these questions (see EUROPE 12226/14), Andrey Novakov (EPP, Bulgaria) took the floor to support this option. He considered that “no action” had been taken to reach a compromise and therefore called on his colleagues to remove this first ‘mobility’ package from the agenda of the Parliament mini plenary session. Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany) said instead that a “clear and transversal compromise” was on the table, justifying a vote.
The compromise to which the German MEP refers is the one he tabled jointly with Merja Kyllönen (GUE/NGM, Finland) and Pavel Telička (ALDE, Czech Republic) at the end of February (see EUROPE 12204/5). Most of the recommendations contained in it were also supported by a majority of MEPs from Parliament's Transport Committee on Tuesday 2 April, during a meeting that was supposed to filter out the hundreds of amendments, but which was not very effective on this point (see EUROPE 12227/4).
The famous request for postponement having been rejected, the vote initially scheduled for 4 April was therefore confirmed by Mr Tajani.
In an attempt to avoid a voting session that could last several hours, the President of Parliament decided to make use of Rule 174(8) of the institution's Rules of Procedure, which allows him to put to a block vote “similar content or with similar objectives”. The requests for separate votes, which the day before had received the support in committee of the 17 Members necessary to have each of the hundreds of amendments voted on separately, will therefore not have been accepted by Mr Tajani.
While the draft compromise tabled by Mr Ertug, Ms Kyllönen and Mr Telička seems likely to obtain a majority on 4 April, the many uncertainties surrounding this first 'mobility' package in months make it impossible to state this with any certainty. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)