According to the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the Mobility Package presented by the European Commission is a “lost opportunity.” The main French transport unions complain about a proposal for the liberalisation of cabotage, and according to the Germans, despite their overall approval for EC traffic initiatives, some of them require further work.
We welcome the implementation of some pragmatic solutions to specific problems. Unfortunately, the presented Mobility Package will not be able to bring the much needed quality and simplify the provisions of law regarding the road freight transport market in the EU, therefore it is a lost opportunity” – the official IRU website says.
The IRU’s doubts
According to the International Road Transport Union, the regulations of the Mobility Package regarding cabotage may cause even greater interpretative divergences than the standards currently in force do.
The IRU is also afraid of the consequences of applying the directive on the posting of workers for the transport.
On the other hand, for the problem of a more effective fight against the “mailbox” companies, the European Union sees a solution in strengthening the rules of access to the transport business activity and in increasing cooperation between the member states in terms of enforcing the law against them.
“In light of the current shortcomings of the Mobility Package, I look forward to a constructive discussion with the European Parliament, the European Council, the social partners, and the trade unions. The IRU will continue to be an honest intermediary in the ongoing discussions, representing the voice of thousands of transport operators in the EU. Really hard work on creating new rules which will provide clarity and simplicity starts now,” said Matthias Maedge, the head of the IRU.
What do the French think about the Package?
The French carriers’ organisations treat the European Commission’s plans with scepticism.
For the European Commission, the proposals for road transport reform are a “balanced compromise.” The French unions–FNTR and OTRE—do not share this view.
The FNTR (La Fédération nationale des transports routiers) appreciates the proposal for fighting with the mailbox companies, introducing new regulations for light transport, and using electronic documentation but is also concerned about the regulations regarding cabotage and posting of workers.
Reducing the cabotage period to 5 days without a limit is a very bad idea which raises the risk of an unlimited number of cabotage operations. We regret that the Commission did not address the proposal for introducing a required rest period between two cabotage operations. Two-way transport conducted in a period over 3 days during a month in a particular country also does not satisfy us.”
The OTRE (l’Organisation des transporteurs routiers européens) is of similar opinion.
“The Commission gives freedom to Eastern companies which will be able attack the French market with even greater intensity,” wrote OTRE members in a statement released on 1 June. “We appreciate that transport has been included in the directive on posting of workers but in our view, the regulations proposed by the European Commission may lead to their abuse.”
How did Germans receive the Package?
The German Association of Freight Forwarders and Logistics (DSLV) welcomed the proposals of the European Commission for the European transport. According to the DSLV, the Commission, along with the package of measures for modernisation of mobility and transport in Europe, “has made a groundbreaking contribution to the restructuring of the legal basis for road transport of good in the community in terms of the social regulations regarding competition and environmental protection.”
However, the package, in the opinion of the German association, contains issues that need further work.
Considering such issues as road tolls, socially just and competitive mobility, cabotage, and posting of workers, in the association’s view, the Commission has set the right priorities but they require “significant corrections during the two-year consultation process.”
Photo: wikipedia.org
