Compensations for Romanian transporters
Romanian authorities are trying to make up for some of the negative effects of not joining the Schengen Agreement
Bogdan Matei, 19.03.2024, 13:50
At the end of this month, Romania and Bulgaria, members of the European Union since 2007, will finally be admitted into the Schengen free movement area. But only with the air and maritime borders, not with the land ones, which are crossed by most travelers and goods. A singular voice among the 27 member states of the Union, Austria still has objections regarding the admission of the two countries, although Romania, at least, has been meeting all the technical requirements for more than a decade.
About 25 million Romanians and Bulgarians continue to feel like second-class Europeans, which, commentators say, will fuel, this year – when elections for the European Parliament are due – the electoral share of Eurosceptic or overtly anti-European parties. Economic analysts point out, in turn, that the burden of keeping Romania outside the Schengen Area was borne by the private sector. In the transport sector alone, losses due to the unjustified delay of accession amount to more than 16 billion euros, accumulated since 2011.
Everyone seems to agree that the most affected are the drivers of cargo trucks. Due to the controls at the internal borders of the Union, they sometimes lose days in a row in customs. And, upon arrival, the beneficiary of the journey can penalize them for the delay, and the perishable goods arrive already altered. Finally, the Bucharest authorities decided to take measures to compensate for the negative effects on transport activities caused by postponing the Schengen accession.
Therefore, the food allowance will be instituted for mobile workers in road transport, in the amount of 40 euros per day, and the companies in the field will have the opportunity to grant posting allowances within the limit of four driver’s basic salaries. The bill, initiated by the National Liberal Party (member of the government coalition together with the Social Democratic Party) was unanimously endorsed by the Senate on Monday.
On behalf of the initiators, Liberal senator Alexandru Nazare said:
“The introduction of a food allowance. Why? Because it is mandatory at European level. All European states have it. Romanian transporters must clearly state the amount earmarked for a driver’s food. Today they can’t do it, because we don’t have this clearly defined food allowance.”
From the opposition, the Save Romania Union voted, in turn, in favor of the draft law. Senator Cristian Bordei
“This bill comes with some really good provisions, but, unfortunately, they reflect the fact that the state has to spend money, because we’re faced with this catastrophic failure regarding the admission of Romania to Schengen with the land borders .”
The document is now bound for the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this matter. (MI)
