Strasbourg, 06/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - During the debate on the Hughes report concerning the adjustment of working time for drivers (see above), during the Monday night session, European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein issued a statement on the matter of the Kralowetz transport company, which is based in Austria. Following the opening of an inquiry ordered by the court in Munich on this company's activities in Luxembourg (it has a foothold in eight European countries), its technical director, Karl Kralowetz, was arrested on 22 January. Since 26 January around 150 heavy goods vehicles belonging to the firm have been gathered in Luxembourg, and their drivers complain that they have not been paid for over three months, recalled Mr Bolkestein. Most of the drivers are considered unlawfully employed, and the Luxembourg authorities are organising their return to their countries of origin by air, with compensation of EUR 1,000 each, said the Commissioner. He noted that the "real problem is the unscrupulous behaviour of the operator concerned", who used drivers without work permits by giving them salaries that do not conform to the national laws or to the collective agreements. The Commission, he commented, welcomes the action of the legal and administrative authorities, but "regrets that an affair of this kind could ever have happened". British Labour member Stephen Hughes, Rapporteur, noted that, in the run up to enlargement, there is a desperate need for additional social safeguards and socially controlled opening of the labour markets for workers from Central and Eastern Europe, especially in this sector.