European legislation - The hidden risks of the Mobility Package

The package of European road transport rules that came into force in 2020 - the Mobility Package - is less favorable for Eastern European transport companies. Many Eastern European countries and interest groups have started proceedings against various parts of the package for this reason. "Some of these laws violate the EU idea of free movement of people, goods and services," says lawyer Kevin Vierhout. He also points out the hidden risks of the package of measures.

"The Mobility Package is designed to improve working conditions, road safety and the competitive position of transport companies within the EU," says Kevin Vierhout. As a partner at ITL Attorneys, he specializes in transport law. Among other things, the Mobility Package provides rules for drivers' working conditions: they must be allowed 45 hours of rest outside their truck and be allowed to return home every four weeks ("return home driver"). There is also the rule that a vehicle must return to the company every eight weeks ("return home vehicle"). The updated cabotage rules further state that a truck with a foreign license plate must have a four-day cooling off period after a limited number of domestic trips.

The danger

Vierhout: "Companies really do want to abide by the rules, but you see that they have difficulty implementing certain rules in practice. Apart from a bit of practical impracticability, there is also a lot of uncertainty about the rules themselves and enforcement, which seems to be different in every country. Remarkable, because the package was supposed to ensure unambiguous rules and enforcement by Europe. Since countries have different priorities in enforcement and also seem to explain the rules differently, it has not made things any clearer for the transporter." 

Vierhout warns, "A company that systematically violates Mobility Package rules by, for example, not allowing its drivers to return home, running its vehicles continuously in Western Europe and violating cabotage rules may be guilty of social dumping. A Polish company operating primarily in Western Europe may be subject to the tax and social legislation of the countries in which it drives. The risk of prosecution for tax and social security fraud is thus lurking. We also see this happening in practice. Especially in countries like Belgium and France there is a strong focus on this." 

That, Vierhout emphasizes, is the hidden danger of the Mobility Package: "Companies often fail to see the bigger picture of individual rules. Violating one or more rules can be interpreted as tax fraud or exploitation, with all the risks of criminal prosecution."

Detrimental to Eastern Europe

"Many Eastern European companies object to certain rules from the Mobility Package, because the package would make their competitive position worse," Vierhout says. "There are now proceedings underway from Lithuania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Romania and Hungary. They argue that the rules violate the EU idea of free movement of people and goods, and the European Green Deal. After all, if a truck has to return every eight weeks from Western Europe - where most of the work is because of industry, trade, and (air) ports - to its location in Eastern Europe, millions of unnecessary kilometers are driven, with all the extra CO2 emissions that this entails. I estimate that the return home vehicle rule has a great chance of being abolished."

Counterproductive

"In short, the Mobility Package was intended to improve the labor market, enforcement, working conditions and competition, but the package of measures is too large and certain rules in it are contrary to EU thinking and the Green Deal," Vierhout concludes. "Eastern European companies are disadvantaged. The goal of improved working conditions could also have been achieved with clear posting rules. These are difficult to understand in the package: for example, a driver is entitled to a patchwork of different rewards when driving through different countries. Abolish counterproductive rules and make the rules simple."