the end of The social dumping of the truck drivers Is it in a good way ? We must be wary of any complacency after the final adoption of the “pack road” by the european Parliament as the bitterness is palpable in the capitals of the Bulgarian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian.
Despite three years of political struggle in the european institutions, Bulgaria’s Boyko Borisov does not resign and the ministry of Transport of bulgaria has already announced that it would seize the Court of justice of the european Union against this new legislation.
Romania, she considers that the “package mobility” which regulates the coasting trade, the time of rest and work detached from the road sounded the death knell literally, this activity Is in a context where the economic crisis was to cause the sinking of one third of its carriers.
on The side of the Poles, there are reports of a “disguised protectionism” of the West and of the measures which are incompatible with the fight against climate change. The obligation of trucks to return to their country of origin will result in higher CO2 emissions.
Three years of bitter negotiations
To the West, on the other hand, it welcomes the adoption of the new anti-dumping rules. “The implementation of this package will finally, thanks to the new rules of detachment, of putting an end to social dumping, and rebalancing the market in favour of carriers of the majority of member States which suffer an unfair competition for years, but that this has not moved beyond measure to my colleagues from the east of Europe “, said mep LR-EPP Brice Hortefeux at the end of three years of battle.
In 2017, the France Emmanuel Macron has been working to rebalance the work seconded in a general way. The French president had had a case of the road, promising separate negotiation. “He has kept his word “, welcomed the mep Nathalie Loiseau, the group Renew (libero-macroniste).
The european trade union confederation (ETUC) reacts to the unison of the enthusiastic responses to the West and highlights the contributions social of the new legislation : the drivers will be able to return to their home more often to rest, and will receive a salary and social protection is decent. Road safety should win.
Read also the fate of The road, new puzzle european
The ” pack road “, however, is the result of a compromise between the Parliament and the Council (in the night of 11 and 12 December 2019), where each has had to make concessions. Among the gains, the registration in black and white in the european legislation on the employers ‘ obligation to pay for a genuine accommodation to their drivers during the period of weekly rest of at least 45 hours. We should thus avoid the nights spent in the cab of the truck.
The truck must return to its base every 8 weeks, the driver must return to his home ” at least once every four weeks “. It is a step backwards compared to the current situation (rest calculated on two weeks). The provisions on the time of rest will come into force 20 days after publication in the official journal of the EU (18 months with regard to the other provisions of the text).
A “black box” in the truck
On the other hand, the regime of the posting of workers, adopted earlier by the european institutions, provides always an exception in respect of the road sector. Under the pressure of the countries of the East and of the countries in the so-called peripheral South (Spain, Portugal), the agreement provides that a truck driver who performs the transport between the employer and another member State will escape the plan of the work posted. It is only when it conducts many operations inside a country other than their own, that the work shall be considered as falling under the regime of posted workers. A subtle distinction that will require serious monitoring…
In fact, to monitor the workload of the road (and the fight against road accidents), the employer will be required to equip vehicles with a tachograph smart, ” genuine black box “, at the latest in 2025 for trucks and 2026 for the pickup trucks. The cost of a smart tachograph is about 900 euros. Since June 15, 2019, all new vehicles registered over 3.5 tonnes (or more than 9 seating positions in the travel mode) must be equipped.
Fight against letter box companies
Other notable improvement : the criteria that define the institutions of transport have been specified to avoid the letter box companies in countries with tax advantages and where social minima are low or non-existent. Numerous reports have denounced for years the fireworks. For example, a transportation company created in the netherlands performs half of transportation under contract with a letter box companies in Romania and Lithuania, which have no real existence. On the other hand, drivers are required to have a bank account in these countries less protective and receive a monthly wage of about 200 euros, the rest of their remuneration being paid in the form of premium to black-and-expense reimbursement. At no time, while orders are given in the netherlands, the road does not have the right to the protection of the Dutch law… The new “pack road” wants to prevent this social dumping. It will, however, again, that the controls be strengthened.
The european authority of the work, created in 2019, is expected to coordinate much more effectively the national inspections concerted and facilitate the resolution of disputes between member States in this field.
