Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) voted on January 21 to support the preliminary agreement on the social aspects of the Mobility Package, which was reached by EU negotiators on December 12, 2019. The new regulations are causing significant controversy in Poland.
The project, known as the Mobility Package, concerns the posting of drivers in international transport and involves major administrative difficulties and increased costs for transport companies from Central and Eastern Europe operating in the West. The adoption of these changes was pushed by Western countries, mainly Germany and France. During the December meeting of EU ambassadors, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Hungary, Cyprus, and Romania voted against the new proposals. Great Britain and Belgium abstained. Despite this, the adoption of the agreement was not blocked.
Opposition is raised by the requirement for trucks to return to the country where the company is registered. Initially, the proposal assumed that drivers would return every four weeks, but during negotiations, this period was extended to eight weeks. The Mobility Package also introduces restrictions on cabotage, i.e., transport operations within another European Union country following a cross-border delivery. The existing system for such operations was maintained, allowing three operations within seven days, but a four-day “cooling-off period” was introduced before the same vehicle can perform further operations of this type in the same country. This will be a significant hindrance to the operation of carriers in foreign markets. Controversy also surrounds the inclusion of road hauliers under the rules on the posting of workers and the introduction of the principle of the minimum wage of the country where the work is performed. International transit will be excluded from this, but for all other types of transport, including cabotage, the full posting regime is to apply from the first day of the operation.
Law enforcement is to be improved by smart tachographs, which will automatically record the truck’s route, the time and place of border crossings, and the location of loading and unloading. New trucks will have to be equipped with this device by 2023. Vehicles that have an analog or digital tachograph will have to be retrofitted by the end of 2024.
The package also provides for changes to rest conditions for drivers in international transport. It will be the company’s duty to organize drivers’ working time in a way that allows them to return home at regular intervals, i.e., every three or four weeks. The mandatory weekly rest period cannot be taken in the truck cabin, which has been a common practice until now.
The new rules on posting and the return of trucks will take effect 18 months after the legal acts enter into force. The rules on driving time (including the return of drivers) will take effect 20 days after the publication of the regulations. The agreement must still be formally accepted by the Council of the European Union and then by the European Parliament in a plenary vote. MEPs will be able to submit amendments to it.
Source: PAP