Action brought on 17 September 2020 — Evropská vodní doprava-sped. and Others v Parliament and Council

(Case T-576/20)

(2020/C 433/68)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicants: Evropská vodní doprava-sped. s. r. o. (Prague, Czech Republic), Konakl s. r. o. (Klíčany, Czech Republic), Eurex AD s. r. o. (Děčín, Czech Republic), Ladislav Říha (Heřmanov, Czech Republic), Vladimír Hurych (Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic) (represented by: A. Verny, lawyer)

Defendant: European Parliament and Council of the European Union

Form of order sought

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— annul Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 (1) amending Regulations (EC) No 561/2006 and (EU) No 165/2014, adopted on the basis of Directive (EU) 2018/957 (2) amending Directive 96/71/EC (3) concerning the posting of workers;

— annul Regulation (EU) 2020/1055 (4) amending Regulations (EC) No 1071/2009, (EC) No 1072/2009 and (EU) No 1024/2012, adopted on the basis of Directive (EU) 2018/957 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers;

— annul Directive (EU) 2020/1057 (5) laying down specific rules with respect to Directives 96/71/EC and 2014/67/EU and amending Directive 2006/22/EC, (6) adopted on the basis of Directive (EU) 2018/957 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers;

— applying Article 68 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court by analogy, join these proceedings with Cases C-626/18 and C-620/18 for the purpose of the decision, if that is considered admissible;

— pursuant to Article 87(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, order the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to pay the costs necessarily incurred.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicants rely on the following pleas in law.

The action, brought within the time limit, primarily concerns the legislative instruments of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union referred to in the first three heads of claim in the form of order sought, which were adopted on the basis of Directive (EU) 2018/957 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers and which allegedly discriminate against the applicants and are prejudicial to them in terms of competition.

The content of those legislative instruments contains a significant advantage for the road transport sector, in the form of the ‘Mobility Package’ for road transport, as compared with the mandatory rules which continue to apply to the applicants in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/957.

In the alternative, the applicants, like the Republic of Poland in Case C-626/18 and the Republic of Hungary in Case C-620/18, seek the partial or, in the alternative, complete annulment of Directive (EU) 2018/957, since that directive forms the basis for the discrimination, described below, against the service sector represented by the applicants.

(1) Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 amending Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 as regards minimum requirements on maximum daily and weekly driving times, minimum breaks and daily and weekly rest periods and Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 as regards positioning by means of tachographs (OJ 2020 L 249, p. 1).

(2) Directive (EU) 2018/957 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 June 2018 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (OJ 2018 L 173, p. 16).

(3) Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (OJ 1997 L 18, p. 1).

(4) Regulation (EU) 2020/1055 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 amending Regulations (EC) No 1071/2009, (EC) No 1072/2009 and (EU) No 1024/2012 with a view to adapting them to developments in the road transport sector (OJ 2020 L 249, p. 17).

(5) Directive (EU) 2020/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 laying down specific rules with respect to Directive 96/71/EC and Directive 2014/67/EU for posting drivers in the road transport sector and amending Directive 2006/22/EC as regards enforcement requirements and Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (OJ 2020 L 249, p. 49).

(6) Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on minimum conditions for the implementation of Council Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85 concerning social legislation relating to road transport activities and repealing Council Directive 88/599/EEC (OJ 2006 L 102, p. 35).