The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) defended the provisional agreement reached between the European Parliament and the EU Council on the social and market aspects of the ‘mobility I’ package on Wednesday 18 December, after Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Economy, had criticised certain provisions of the agreement the day before.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Mr Dombrovskis said that the application of cabotage restrictions to combined transport and the return of the vehicle every 8 weeks to the country where the hauliers are established – two provisions of the European Parliament/EU Council Agreement (see EUROPE 12389/7) – were contrary to the ambitions of the European Green Deal.
For the Commission, the return of the lorry will lead to it being returned empty to the country of establishment of the company employing the driver, while restrictions on combined transport will reduce the efficiency of multimodal freight transport.
The Commissioner also announced that the Commission would carefully assess the impact of these elements on the climate, environment and functioning of the single market and would then, if necessary, present a targeted legislative proposal before both provisions enter into force.
But, for the ETF, these provisions will, on the contrary, contribute to the ambitions of the Green Deal and, more precisely, to the objective of transferring 75% of road transport to rail and inland waterway transport. According to the organisation, these provisions will make road transport more expensive by preventing the sector from continuing to use illegal labour cost practices, which will automatically lead to a shift to other, less polluting modes of transport.
In her email to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President responsible for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, the Federation believes that the application of cabotage restrictions on combined transport will limit the systematic use of low-cost labour in road operations around European ports.
Concerning the return of trucks, the ETF attached a communiqué to its email in which it emphasised that this measure is, in its view, the only effective way to combat letterbox companies in road transport.
Strong tensions remain. This email comes on the day that the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) met to discuss the agreement. However, according to information gathered by EUROPE, this was only a first quick exchange of views. The ambassadors will meet again on Friday 20 December to adopt the agreement, which is far from certain.
Indeed, while it is almost certain that Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will oppose the text, Malta and Cyprus are also expected to vote against it and could be joined by other countries such as Belgium, Estonia and Ireland. In addition, the United Kingdom will likely abstain, which is equivalent to a vote against.
Ambiguous attitude of the Commission. While tensions on this issue therefore remain high both in the EU Council and in Parliament, as illustrated by the recent xenophobic statements by Angel Dzhambazki (ECR, Bulgarian) (see EUROPE 12392/3), interinstitutional tensions have recently increased since the statements by Mr Dombrovskis on behalf of the College of Commissioners.
Hence, even if the agreement were to be approved by the EU Council and Parliament, these statements cast doubt on its entry into force. When asked whether the impact assessments announced by Mr Dombrovskis could block the entry into force of the agreement, the Commission punted, simply replying that the legislative process will continue and that the impact assessments will be conducted in the meantime.
In addition, some sources close to the case point to the role of the new Transport Commissioner, Romania’s Adina-Ioana Vălean. During the negotiations between Parliament and the EU Council (‘trilogue’), the latter was reportedly not noticed for her determination to reach an agreement, but rather allegedly sought to frustrate the negotiations. This attitude bears examination, given that Romania is strongly opposed to the provisional agreement and that Ms Vălean, as European Commissioner, is supposed to defend the interests of the whole EU.
According to information gathered by EUROPE, the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, the Hungarian Olivér Várhelyi, is also allegedly pressing internally for the mandatory return of trucks to be abandoned.
While Parliament’s Transport Committee has scheduled to vote on the compromise on 21 January, the saga of the ‘mobility I’ package could therefore still contain some twists and turns.
To consult the ETF press release on the return of trucks: https://bit.ly/34xCBvg (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)