On Monday, 25 October, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions (PETI) adopted a resolution (31 votes in favour, 1 against, and 0 abstentions) concerning the protection of truck drivers and the safety of parking infrastructure within the EU.
“The insufficient number of parking areas is the biggest threat to the safety of truck drivers in Europe”, declared Marian-Jean Marinescu (EPP, Romania).
In the context of a truck driver shortage, the adopted resolution calls for funding to develop more parking capacity.
This funding, the text proposes, could, for instance, come from the European Structural Funds and the Connecting Europe Facility.
“Certain countries that are not building enough safe parking areas are applying excessive penalties to truckers who violate driving time rules because they cannot find such parking areas. This situation cannot remain unaddressed”, added Mr Marinescu.
Besides funding, MEPs on the PETI Committee believe that the introduction of a call system that allows drivers to report offences—without language barriers—is necessary. The idea of a tool that enables drivers to find parking areas more easily was also put forward.
See the document: https://bit.ly/3bd3c6A (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)