Brussels (AFP)

The reform of the working conditions of international truck drivers, a file marked by an opposition between eastern and western Europe, was approved on Monday by the Transport Committee of the European Parliament, and will give rise to a vote MEPs in July.

The Transport Commission has adopted the three texts relating to the posting of drivers, their rest time, cabotage (the fact that a transporter performs several loads and unloadings in a country where he has arrived as part of an international delivery ).

Proposed by the European Commission in May 2017, the reform gave rise to a bitter battle between two camps, the Western countries (France, Germany, Benelux) accusing those of Eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania) of social dumping, the latter accusing them of doing disguised protectionism.

A compromise was finally found last December between the negotiators of the European Parliament and the member states.

The Council adopted the reform on April 7. The Transport Committee approved the compromise, and the European Parliament will still have to adopt it by vote at its July session.

The new rules provide in particular that transport companies must organize themselves to allow drivers to return home at regular intervals (every three or four weeks). If the driver is away from home during his compulsory weekly rest period, the company must pay his accommodation costs.

Cabotage limits remain the same: three operations authorized in seven days. To prevent "systematic cabotage", a four-day waiting period will be introduced before other cabotage operations can be carried out in the same country with the same vehicle.

The new rules also introduce the recording of border crossings by tachograph to fight fraud.

To fight against letterbox companies, these transport companies must have substantial activities in the Member State where they are registered. The trucks will also have to return to the company's operations center every eight weeks.

The rules on the posting of drivers (providing remuneration according to the rules of the country where they work: minimum wage, but also bonuses) will apply to cabotage and international transport operations, with certain exceptions, notably for transit.

© 2020 AFP