An industry conference organized by the Belgian EU Council Presidency looked at how the mobility package’s rules for road freight transport can be better enforced. A number of ideas were discussed, and in the end the Belgians presented a list of 15 recommendations.
The following article is a direct translation of the text written by Frank Hütten and published on 23 February 2024 for DVZ. You can read the original article here: https://www.dvz.de/politik/detail/news/belgien-schlaegt-eu-agentur-fuer-strassengueterverkehr-vor.html.
In order to better enforce the EU mobility package’s rules against social dumping in road freight transport, the EU should set up a specialized agency. This was suggested by Belgian Transport Minister Georges Gilkinet (Greens) on Friday at a conference on controls in road transport organized by the Belgian EU Council Presidency. The agency should develop and annually assess a multi-annual plan against fraud and unfair competition that, like Member States, have implemented the provisions of the mobility package.
“We do this every year for the budget planning of all member states and point out to Belgium, for example, that the deficit is too high,” said Gilkinet to the DVZ. There are already specialized EU agencies for rail, air and maritime transport, but not for road transport, the area with the most employees. In order to close this gap, either the mandate of the European Labor Authority (ELA) could be expanded or a new organization could be created. The proposal is among 15 recommendations presented by Gilkinet as a result of the conference.
Shippers should bear more responsibility
During the discussion, representatives of transport associations, trade unions and the EU Commission spoke out in favor of making shippers and freight forwarders more responsible. The transport industry consists predominantly of small and medium-sized companies, said Raluca Marian, head of the EU representation of the International Road Transport Union (IRU). When enforcing the mobility package, one should not only concentrate on this “middle level”. “Our customers are big companies with a lot of money,” she said. You would have to take responsibility for the working conditions in road freight transport.
Dirk Saile, Brussels representative of the German industry association BGL, said industrial companies had benefited from low transport prices. However, the industry needs to get rid of the bad image of widespread social dumping if only to find enough truck drivers in the future. Saile suggested more targeted controls also be carried out by shippers.
Union promotes EU supply chain law
According to Livia Spera, general secretary of the European Transport Workers’ Union (ETF), an EU supply chain law could help improve the situation. “Unfortunately, this is now blocked in the Council of Ministers.” The obligation to monitor working conditions in their supply chains could provide international corporations with more information about who is transporting their goods and under what conditions. ETF calculations have shown that transport costs only increase by “a few cents or euros” if all regulations are complied with, said Spera.
Ewa Ptaszynska, deputy head of the road transport department in the EU Commission, pointed out that the mobility package’s regulations had both social goals and were intended to make competition fairer. The right of drivers to return home, no later than every 4 weeks, should first of all allow them to spend their free time with their family or wherever they want. But it should also force companies to organize tours so that their trucks are not on the road for months. This means there are fewer opportunities to spontaneously accept orders anywhere in the EU. The proposals of the Belgian EU Council Presidency state that the periodic right of return would be difficult to enforce. It should be replaced by a mandatory minimum period of time at home.
Exchange information about violations
More targeted and efficient controls on social regulations were often called for at the conference. There are great hopes for information provided by second-generation digital tachographs. In addition, the European register of road transport companies must be constantly fed with information about violations and made accessible to inspectors. Another demand was that the interpretation of the posting regulations for truck drivers must be made more binding. Especially when it comes to the definition of minimum wages. In order to make it easier for companies to correctly determine the minimum wages due in other EU countries, the European Economic and Social Committee proposes to develop a digital calculation tool that works in real time. Other demands from the Council Presidency include:
- The EU Commission should consider making all light transport vehicles subject to road freight transport regulations and driving and rest time rules. Due to increasing e-commerce and urban delivery traffic, vehicles that are otherwise exempt could endanger road safety, social standards or fair competition.
- Truck drivers from third countries employed in the EU should receive the same health protection, social rights and minimum wages as EU citizens. The requirements of Regulation 1072/2009, especially regarding driver certificates, must also be observed. The EU Commission should monitor the situation and, if necessary, propose new regulations for drivers from third countries.
Two questions for Georges Gilkinet (Greens), Transport Minister of Belgium:
What should the new EU agency you propose achieve for road freight transport?
There has to be someone who monitors compliance with the rules of the mobility package, who keeps an eye on the member states, who also gives impetus for possible further development of the rules, for example with regard to truck drivers from third countries. This is about interfaces between road safety, social law and fair competition. Environmental issues also play a role. Trucks should be used where they are best: for transport on short and medium distances. On long journeys, however, the train should be used more because we have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But this will not succeed if road freight transport competes here with prices that can only be offered with ever cheaper labor. As a Democrat, I cannot accept that some drivers spend three months on the road in their trucks in order to earn in that time what others earn in a week.
Industry representatives say that shippers and freight forwarders must also be held responsible. For example, through the EU supply chain law, which is currently blocked in the Council of Ministers. Do you think this would be a good tool to improve enforcement of the rules?
You have to take responsibility for the entire supply chain. Just as there should be a minimum wage for truck drivers, there also needs to be a minimum price for clients. If we always look for the cheapest offer and at some point we no longer have any transport companies and cannot find drivers for the trucks, then we have also lost out. Politically, conservatives and liberals who don’t want any rules are becoming stronger again. I am also for an EU with simpler regulations. But being against a set of rules like the Supply Chain Act, arguing that it is too complicated, is dishonest. We need regulations to protect the European economy and the companies that want to work honestly, pay their workers correctly and respect safety and environmental regulations.
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