More than 2.5 years after the European Commission’s initial proposal (see EUROPE 11799/6), the negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have finally reached a provisional agreement on the social and market aspects of the ‘mobility I’ package (posting of lorry drivers, driving and resting time, tachographs, cabotage and market access), on Thursday 12 December, at the end of the fourth interinstitutional negotiating session (‘trilogue’).
“Habemus! After almost 3 years of work, we have reached an agreement with the [EU] Council”, Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany), rapporteur for Parliament on cabotage and market access rules, said on Twitter.
It must be said that the path to this provisional agreement was long and fraught with obstacles in the EU Council (see EUROPE 12151/4) and Parliament (see EUROPE 11985/15, 12055/2, 12123/12, 12223/1) as well as in trilogue (see EUROPE 12377/16).
And this final round of negotiations between Parliament and the EU Council did not deviate from the rule, with discussions lasting all night from Wednesday to Thursday (from 9 p.m. to around 7 a.m.).
According to information gathered by EUROPE, the agreement reached represents a relatively balanced compromise between the position of Parliament (see EUROPE 12229/1) and that of the Member States (see EUROPE 12152/10).
Posting. With regard to the application of rules on the posting of lorry drivers to work, the agreement contains provisions excluding lorry drivers travelling between the State where their employer is established and another Member State from the posting scheme.
This is a defeat for Parliament’s negotiators, for whom the application of the posting scheme to lorry drivers would have made it easier to combat social dumping in this sector.
“While the recent revision of the Posted Workers Directive made substantial progress, it excluded the road transport sector from its scope. Today, this exception has unfortunately been confirmed, and it will result in the creation in Europe of a second-class of employees”, said Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), president of Parliament’s ‘Transport’ Committee.
On the other hand, when a driver carries out internal operations in a country other than the one where their company is established, posting will apply.
Driving and resting time/tachograph. On the issue of driving and resting time for lorry drivers, which has been one of the most problematic issues (see EUROPE 12385/11), negotiators agreed to keep the 2-week reference period advocated by Parliament, but introduced a derogation for international freight transport.
This means that after taking a reduced weekly rest period (24 hours) a week, only drivers carrying passengers or goods nationally will apparently be required to take a regular weekly rest period (45 hours or more) the following week.
Under the derogation, drivers engaged in the international carriage of goods may take two reduced rest periods for 2 consecutive weeks, provided that they take two compensatory rest periods (twice 21 hours) the following week, attached to the regular rest period with return home.
In other words, a driver engaged in international freight transport could work from Monday to Saturday for the first 2 weeks, but would then have to return home to rest on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the third week.
In addition, the agreement prohibits a driver from sleeping in his vehicle during the weekly rest period of 45 hours or more. Any regular weekly rest period must therefore be spent in a real accommodation paid for by the employer. The agreement also contains provisions to increase the number of secure parking spaces and to strengthen the cleanliness requirements for car parks.
As for the second-generation smart tachograph, a kind of black box that controls the vehicle’s activities, the provisional agreement provides that it must be installed on all trucks - both new and existing - by 2025, and at the latest by 2026 for vans.
Cabotage and market access. In addition, under this agreement, a driver could carry out, after an international operation, three cabotage operations within a period of 7 days within the territory of a Member State other than the one where their company is established.
However, at the end of these 7 days, a ‘cooling-off period’ of 4 days would apply before a new ‘cabotage right’ in that State would be granted to the carrier.
While the agreement on this point clearly favours the EU Council’s position, Parliament has obtained in return the compulsory return of the lorry to the State where the driver’s employer is established, another highly sensitive subject.
The negotiators reportedly agreed that the lorry must return to the country where the driver’s employer is established at least once every 8 weeks. While the EU Council’s general approach did not provide for such a return, Parliament advocated a return at least every 4 weeks.
“Despite pressure from many States and their representatives in the European Parliament, we have never given up on cabotage and have won this battle: limited in time, with the obligation for the truck to return to its base”, Mrs Delli said with delight.
During the negotiations, the Romanian Adina-Ioana Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, reportedly proposed not including a lorry return obligation, arguing that such a provision was contrary to the EU’s climate ambitions. This is one of the main arguments that has been used by her country and by Hungary, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to justify their opposition to the ‘mobility I’ package (see EUROPE 12376/13).
Finally, it should be noted that the text will also apply to light commercial vehicles (vans) 21 months after the text’s entry into force. Henna Virkkkunen (EPP, Finland), rapporteur for Parliament on rest periods, said that this addition of vans would “ensure a level playing field in the road transport sector”.
Blocking risk remains in the EU Council. While this agreement represents a major step forward towards the text’s final adoption, it still needs to be validated at the EU Council level by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper), by Parliament’s ‘Transport’ Committee and by the MEPs in plenary session.
However, there is a risk of a blocking minority forming in the EU Council. While it is certain that the group of six eastern Member States will vote against the agreement, they could be joined by other countries such as Croatia, Estonia, Malta, Cyprus and Belgium.
The latter is in fact opposed to the cooling-off period provided for in the cabotage rules, because, under competitive pressure, the country has specialised in cross-border road transport. Many Belgian road transport SMEs therefore carry out cabotage operations in neighbouring countries so that trucks do not return to Belgium empty.
Limiting cabotage operations by providing for a cooling-off period would therefore penalise these SMEs. Belgium considers this to be a protectionist measure on the part of large countries such as France and Germany.
The United Kingdom, which usually abstains, could also oppose, as it apparently does not welcome the return for lorries and the inclusion of vans.
Upon his arrival at the EU summit, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven welcomed the agreement, calling it a “major breakthrough” and hoping for “rapid confirmation by the EU Council”. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)