The EU Court of Justice dismissed respective countries, including Poland, against the alleged mobility package. A set of additional regulations for the transport manufacture will favour companies from western countries and aid them cope with the dominance in the east transport manufacture – the authors of the rejected complaint believe.
The premise of the mobility package, which was adopted by the European Union in 2020, is "to improve the working conditions of drivers". It imposes fresh obligations on companies that own a fleet of trucks and carry goods in Europe.
Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta and Poland have brought a complaint to the EU Court of Justice against these provisions, demanding their annulment. The governments of these countries argued that the mobility package would not improve the working conditions of drivers, alternatively push their companies out of Western European markets, introducing unequal competition. The countries of Central and east Europe have many companies operating on this marketplace and dominated motor transport in the European market.
On Friday, the CJEU concluded that the rules were in line with EU law. He assured that the aim of the rules was to guarantee a fresh balance between the inter-existing interests, in peculiar between the interests of drivers (the usage of better social conditions for work) and the interests of employers (the establishment of transport activities on fair commercial terms). The TEU considers that the road transport sector "should so become more secure, efficient and socially responsible".
The only change that has occurred as a consequence of the judgement is the abandonment of the work to return drivers with the vehicle to the country of registration of the company at least erstwhile all 8 weeks. According to the Court, ‘Parliament and the Council did not show that at the time of the adoption of this measurement they had adequate information to measure the proportionality of the measurement (PAP)’.
The complainant countries argued that the mobility package regulation restricts freedom to supply services in the EU single marketplace and impose additional unnecessary burdens on companies.
In their view, the mobility package harms EU road carriers – mainly tiny and medium-sized enterprises. They assessed that the solutions were prepared in a completely different socio-economic reality – the 1 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a joint message published in October 2020, at the time of the complaints, a group of 7 countries stressed that the fresh rules lead to "a distortion of the EU's single marketplace by introducing artificial administrative barriers to the functioning of road transport companies". In their view, the solutions are "protective" and lead to an increase in the prices of transport services and, consequently, the prices of goods in the EU.
The countries of Central and east Europe besides consider that the adopted solutions do not take into account the geographical specificities of the associate States located on the EU's periphery.
The mobility package includes mandatory return to the country of residence after a certain period of working abroad, sleeping in hotels alternatively than in truck cabins and improving the quality of infrastructure on motorways. It covers road hauliers with posting rules and regulates the remainder time of drivers.
(PAP)/ study. FA
