The European Union has initiated a number of reforms, including in the area of road transport.
More and more voices in Western Europe are calling on the EU to change lanes in order to remain a sustainable structure. Reforms have been announced at the Union level in several economic areas, one of them being road transport. Nowadays, transporters from Eastern Europe have the benefit of EU mobility of services, operating with no major trade restrictions across the European Union. Their drivers, however, are paid much less than their counterparts in western countries and have less social protection. Under pressure from employers and trade unions, several western countries back the adoption of new European regulations to balance costs and create conditions for better competition.
As a result, last year the European Commission passed a mobility package called Europe on the Move. One component of this programme is addressed to drivers who cross borders with their cargo. One of the most controversial provisions imposes on Eastern European transporters the obligation to pay their drivers at least the minimum wage in countries like Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Holland and Luxembourg for the duration of driving on those countries' territory. The Social Democratic MEP Claudia Tapardel, a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism, commented on this:
"Right now, the European Commission's position is not to our advantage, and is not to the advantage of Central and Eastern European transporters in general. I obviously want drivers in this sector to be well paid and enjoy good benefits, but we cannot reach the wage levels imposed by Western Europe. In addition, they impose on us the minimum wage in their own countries. This is a very delicate subject. We have an agreement in this respect with Bulgaria and the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, which are deeply involved too. A rift has been created between east and west because of this, and I believe the new mobility package will be very hard to pass because of this."
Renate Weber is also a Euro MP and a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe. She is the vice-chairman of the committee in charge of labour force and social affairs. She sees the European Commission's proposals as a danger for small and medium-sized companies in the transport sector in the East:
"These conditions will chase small transport companies off the market. In the EU, we keep saying that we need small and medium-sized enterprises, that they account for 80% of job providers and create added value in the EU. And now we pass legislation that hurts precisely these small entrepreneurs."
The package is now under debate in the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism. Once MEPs decide their position, the package will be negotiated on a three-party basis by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council. Right now, the presidency of the Council is held by Bulgaria, followed by Austria starting on July 1st, and then Romania as of January 2019.
Marian-Jean Marinescu is vice-chairman of the European People's Party group in the European Parliament and a member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. He believes it should be taken advantage of the fact that two eastern states are holding the Union presidency over the upcoming period to prevent the adoption of provisions that hurt East European transporters:
"The European mobility package has a lot of problems, and, besides, it could set a very dangerous precedent. When I went to Bulgaria, I told them that, if we don't get what we want, we should delay as much as we can the proceedings in the Council. That means that the Bulgarians should leave it in a form that does not allow the Austrians to sort it out, and then we can start over once we take over, which can take up to two years. In my opinion, the Commission has come up with some very unsuitable proposals. Did you know that one of the proposals is for drivers to have on them at all times their proof of salary for the last two months? In a European law, can you imagine? It is unimaginable. This goes against the free circulation of services and of labour, it is very dangerous."
It thus appears that the negotiations on the future of road transport in the European Union will be a lengthy and complicated process. It remains to be seen what form the European mobility package will take in the end.
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