After sending a letter to senior EU officials (see EUROPE 12357/4), six Member States (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania) expressed their concerns this time via a declaration on Monday 25 November about the way the dossier on the social and market aspects of the ‘mobility I’ package (posting of lorry drivers, driving and resting time, tachographs, cabotage and market access) had developed.
“Currently we see the package taking a wrong turn towards more emissions, supply chain disruptions as well as unfair and discriminatory rules towards workers and companies from Member States located at the external borders of the EU”, deplore the six transport ministers who initiated this declaration.
In particular, they criticise the proposal to impose a return of lorries to the country of establishment of the company that employs drivers at least once every 4 weeks, one of the European Parliament’s red lines. In their view, such an obligation would be contrary to the freedom to provide services provided for in the European Treaties and would lead to the return of “empty” trucks, unnecessarily increasing emissions.
The European Parliament, for its part, considers that such a return is a necessary condition for combating the social dumping practised by certain European countries in the case of lorry drivers.
This group of Member States is also concerned about the reference to the Rome I Regulation, i.e. the application of the posted workers regime for road hauliers. They consider that this could lead to serious limitations on the possibilities of providing international transport services, except for bilateral services (the latter would be exempt from the posting rules).
This statement comes just before a third session of interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogue’) is held this Monday evening, dedicated to the many political issues that still need to be resolved (see EUROPE 12367/15). The outcome of this trilogue, which could well last all night, remains largely uncertain. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)