Fair conditions for road transport
Proposal
To ensure a well-functioning internal market for road transport, the Commission should work towards
clear and enforceable rules for road transport within the EU. The current legislation is imprecise and
leads to an ineffective internal market. The aim should be to move more rapidly towards an integrated
Europe where road transport is carried out in an economic area, where competition is fair and healthy
between economic actors; where social rights of workers are better ensured, and where the safety of
drivers and road users is enhanced.
Denmark encourages the European Commission to solve the current fragmentation of the internal
market by simplifying and clarifying the current legislation in order to mitigate uncertainties, improve
cross-references between legal texts and make the legislation enforceable. Denmark believes that the
European Labour Authority (ELA) can contribute to strengthened implementation and enforcement of
the common EU-rules and combat fraud and abuse in the internal market, including in the transport
sector. In this connection, the Commission should prioritise getting the European Labour Authority up
and running as soon as possible.
Challenge
The future of the European road transport sector depends on the ability to ensure a well-functioning
internal market based on fair competition. Currently, the internal market is constrained by unclear and
partly unenforceable provisions that create fragmentation between Member States and promotes
unfair competition between road hauliers. Denmark supports solutions that address the current
fragmentation of the internal market by simplifying and clarifying the rules and ensures a coherent
legal framework.
Background
The Commission has presented several proposals for legislative acts as part of its Mobility Package 1.
On 3 December 2018, the Council agreed on a general approach on the social and market access
pillars of Mobility Package 1 and the directive on combined transport. These legislative proposals are
interlinked and cannot be separated.
Among the key elements of the general approach is the confirmation of the ban on sleeping in the
cabin, the introduction of a cooling-off
period for a otage, a otage-rules for road legs of
combined transport operations, a new weight limit of 2.500 kg. and clearer and more enforceable
rules on posting of drivers.
These elements are essential in the fight against the exploitation of drivers and the usage of letterbox
companies. This, a large number of drivers from the Philippines and Sri Lanka were discovered working
and living under horrendous conditions in Denmark.
From 2012 to 2017 the number of driver attestation issued for third country drivers has increased by
almost four times. In this regard, the urgency for better regulation for road transport is highlighted.