Fair working conditions for truck drivers
After long negotiations, the European Parliament has finally implemented the EU mobility package. The package is intended to ensure fair working conditions for truck drivers and was very popular in the logistics sector.
In the much-discussed areas of cabotage, driving times and rest periods, as well as posting in road transport, the majority of MEPs voted in favour of a new regulation.
Throughout Germany, professional drivers are now to be paid according to the principle of “equal pay for equal work at the same place”. Transit traffic and bilateral traffic are excluded from this.
Furthermore, drivers were forbidden to spend the weekly rest period in the vehicles. This is intended to restrict nomadism, according to the Verkehrsrundschau.
In addition, cabotage journeys may only last three days after crossing the border instead of the previous seven days. After that, a ban of 60 hours will be imposed on the driver, during which he must be in his home country. In future, the companies are to organise the transports in such a way that the drivers can come home at least every four weeks.
“After long and difficult negotiations, we have found a good compromise, which the Central European states also support. A successful vote was important not least because otherwise the individual EU member states would have taken all their own measures,” said Ismail Ertug, transport policy spokesman for the Social Democrats in the European Parliament.
Predominantly positive responses
Although the mobility package was largely viewed positively, there were some critical voices. According to Verdi, the decision was not sufficient to contain the “possibilities of social dumping”. In addition, more controls are needed.
The BGL, BWVL and SPD welcomed the new regulations as a good compromise. In particular, the drivers’ obligation to return could be well received.
The Greens expressed criticism in this regard: “With the negotiation mandate for driving times and rest periods, a deterioration of the current working conditions could just be prevented. After two working weeks, truck drivers should retain the right to a long weekend that may not be spent in the driver’s cab. This position is in line with the judgment of the European Court of Justice that the cab is not a suitable resting place. Employers must also cover the cost of drivers returning home after these two weeks. This is no more than damage limitation, especially as there is a risk that the proposal will be watered down in negotiations with the Council,” commented Michael Cramer, Transport Spokesman for the Greens/EFA Group.