Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia have joined together in drawing attention to potential negative impacts that the new European legislation may have for the European hauliers and the competitiveness of road transport.
The ministers and high-level representatives expressed their concerns during the debate held at the Transport Council in Luxembourg on 6 June. They stressed that during the process of negotiating the Mobility Package I, the need to introduce solutions enhancing the functioning of the single market has not been duly considered. As a result, Europe is on its path to adopting long-term measures that not only will not strengthen the EU road sector but will create barriers to the free movement of goods and provision of services, hence harming the European economy in general.
From the point of view of Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia, the current drafts of the Package I (both adopted in the Council and in the European Parliament) do not substantially improve working conditions of drivers as initially intended but focus rather on regulating transport operations and movement of trucks across the EU. Moreover, the measures are not balanced from the social and market perspectives, they have clear negative impact on environmental goals and do not reflect particularities of road transport operations in all Member States.
Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia have pleaded for a proper assessment of all measures to be agreed in the framework of the Mobility Package I to ensure that they will improve working conditions of the European drivers, while bringing the expected added value for the EU road transport market.
