The EU Council having approved the provisional agreement reached at the end of the interinstitutional negotiations on the first ‘mobility package’ (see EUROPE 12463/31), it is now up to the European Parliament to reach a decision.
On Tuesday 28 April, the rapporteurs in charge of the components making up this package - (1) posting of truck drivers; (2) rest periods and tachographs; (3) cabotage and market access - called on the Committee on Transport (TRAN) to support the three texts as they stand.
“It is high time to adopt this file. I think the compromise is excellent”, said Kateřina Konečná (GUE/NGL, Czech Republic), rapporteur on the first text.
Henna Virkkunen (EPP, Finland) and Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany), rapporteurs on the second and third components, also called for support for the texts “without amendment”.
A number of MEPs also stressed the need to support the package as a whole, arguing that adopting one text without the other two would make no sense.
Opposition remains. Several groups, however, expressed reservations about adopting the texts unaltered.
In particular, the EPP fears that “the remaining vagueness” in the text providing for non-Member State operators to be subject to the same driving conditions as EU operators will continue to favour foreign drivers. Andor Deli (Hungary), the group’s shadow rapporteur, also regretted that the additional journeys and operations required were “not as environmentally friendly as some would say”.
“I hope that all those who make this green argument will still be there when it comes to supporting the modal shift for rail freight”, said Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France).
Kosma Złotowski (ECR, Poland), for his part, promised amendments on cabotage restrictions, cooling periods and the return of the vehicle every 8 weeks to the country of establishment (see EUROPE 12389/7).
Mr Złotowski stressed that the sector needed to be supported in these times of crisis and called for the removal of “obstacles to the freedom of the internal market” and a reduction in the constraints on drivers.
New postponement proposal. Roberts Zīle (ECR, Latvia), meanwhile, considered that the “wisest decision would be to postpone” the adoption of the package. An outcome already advocated by some MEPs and European governments (see EUROPE 12454/24, 12459/25).
“The situation has changed, social distancing measures must be applied and there is a risk of distortion of competition in the freight market”, Mr Zīle said. The same morning, he had asked the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, who was heard by MEPs (see EUROPE 12476/2), for her opinion on this solution.
“We have expressed our reservations on a number of points, and we are still assessing them. But for the rest, it's up to you to play the final act of this play”, the commissioner said.
A very fragile majority. Uncertainties therefore persist as to the adoption, in the coming months, of this text, which has been under discussion for almost 3 years.
The majority in favour of the package remains all the more fragile as the Greens/EFA maintain their intention to vote against the first component, to abstain on the second and to validate the third.
Extraordinary voting conditions and distance “will have an influence”, Marian Marinescu (EPP, Romania) told EUROPE, expressing concern in particular about decisions that might be taken on tabling amendments.
In its guidelines on the distance voting procedure, the Conference of Committee Chairs had indeed explained that “some adjustments would be necessary, in particular due to the higher number” of amendments tabled.
For her part, the Chair of the TRAN Committee, Mrs Delli, has assured us that she intends, despite everything, to make this dossier a priority. “The urgency is not to squabble, but to adopt this package quickly”, she assured EUROPE.
The vote in the TRAN Committee is, for the time being, expected next June. It should be followed by a plenary vote in July. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)