Violeta Bulc, the European Commissioner for Transport Policy, told MEPs of the European Parliament's Transport Committee, on Thursday 11 April, that she hoped that inter-institutional negotiations ('trilogues') on the social and market aspects of the first mobility package (posting of drivers, driving time and rest periods, tachograph, cabotage, market access) would start in July.
"I hope that we can actually complete the negotiations under my mandate [by the end of October, editor's note]", she added.
While EU Transport Ministers had reached a political agreement ('general approach') on these issues last December (see EUROPE 12152/10), the European Parliament's vote on first reading on 4 April technically allows the discussions to begin (see EUROPE 12229/1).
While it is impossible to complete the negotiations and formally validate agreements under the current mandate of the European Parliament, several negotiators in Parliament, including Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany) and Pavel Telička (ALDE, Czech Republic), declared that they were ready to negotiate last week. Even if this means that potential agreements will only be validated by the next Parliament.
As the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU does not wish to start trilogues before the end of the mandate of the current European Parliament, negotiations can therefore only start, at the earliest, in July with the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU and representatives of the next Parliament. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)