The International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) sent a joint letter to the European Commission on 7 May, addressed to Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu and Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, raising concerns about ongoing legal uncertainty in the application of EU rules.
IRU, which represents road transport employers, and ETF, which represents transport workers, jointly warned that the current lack of clarity is making compliance difficult and costly—particularly for small and medium-sized haulage operators.
Both organisations sit on the EU social dialogue committee for road transport and are urging the Commission to act.
Raluca Marian, IRU’s Director of EU Advocacy, said that operators are being “unfairly penalised” by the complexity of the current system and the lack of accessible information. “Companies are practically obliged to seek expensive compliance advice from expert consultants, who, in turn, struggle to find reliable data. This can easily lead to payment errors,” she added.
The concerns relate to Directive 2020/1057, a key component of the EU’s Mobility Package 1, which requires that drivers posted to another Member State receive at least the minimum remuneration applicable in that country. While the legislation has been in force since 2022, IRU and ETF argue that the complexity and inconsistency of national implementation have made it difficult for companies and drivers to determine the correct rates of pay.
“Five years after the adoption of the EU’s Mobility Package 1, and three years after the start of the posting rules’ application, employers and employees who move goods and people across borders in the EU are still struggling to navigate through the myriads of national rules across the 27 Member States,” said Raluca Marian, IRU’s Director of EU Advocacy.
According to the letter, although the European Commission’s ‘Your Europe’ portal links to national regulations, the information provided is often fragmented, difficult to interpret, or outdated. In some cases, national rules are either missing or incomplete, forcing operators to rely on paid legal advice to avoid the risk of non-compliance – an option that is not financially viable for many smaller firms.
“The European Commission’s ‘Your Europe’ website provides links to national provisions prescribing minimum remuneration,” the letter states. “However, following these resources and trying to understand the complex provisions and links between national laws is overly cumbersome. Finding the right information to calculate remuneration has proven to be difficult even for trained experts.”
To resolve the issue, IRU and ETF have called on the Commission to introduce a standardised EU template that Member States would use to report national driver pay information in a clear and consistent format. They also propose the creation of an EU-level calculator to help employers determine the correct remuneration for posted drivers.
The organisations argue that such tools would not only improve compliance but also strengthen fair competition and enforcement across the EU’s single market.
“Companies are practically obliged to seek expensive compliance advice from expert consultants, who, in turn, struggle to find reliable data. This can easily lead to payment errors,” Marian added.
IRU and ETF also noted that the previous Commissioners responsible for transport and social rights – Adina Vălean and Nicolas Schmit – had initiated efforts in this direction and expressed hope that their successors would continue the work.
