Debate: Safeguarding labour mobility and social rights of striking lorry drivers from third countries
Date: TUESDAY, 18 APRIL 2023
Speaker: Nicolas Schmit
Language: EN

This Commission remains deeply committed to fair mobility, as it has been underlined also by the Council. The so-called Mobility Package 1, which has been fully applicable since last year, contains measures to guarantee the social rights of drivers in the road transport sector. Those measures also apply to all third-country drivers employed by EU operators and working in the EU. There are not two different categories of workers in this EU, there are only workers with the same rights and the same social standards. These measures aim at guaranteeing the social rights of truck drivers from third countries who are employed and work in the EU. They must be complied with by the road transport operators and enforced by the Member States. One of these measures include a requirement to ensure that when third-country drivers come to work in the EU, they receive at least, at least, the minimum wage of the EU Member State in which they are employed. In addition, whenever they work in other Member States, the rules on posting of workers must be respected and, where applicable, they should be paid according to the conditions in force and the place where they are working. A Member State must suspend all withdrawal and authorisation to operate road transport services if there are compelling grounds for doubting the good repute of an operator, such as convictions or penalties for any serious infringement of national rules in force in the field of trafficking in human beings, contractual obligations and working-time limits.  In duly motivated cases of alleged abuses by EU operators, the Member States of establishment can be requested to verify whether the undertaking meets the conditions governing admission to the occupation of road transport operator, including by performing comprehensive checks at premises. The Commission has set up the Internal Market Information System to facilitate information exchange between national authorities and has established the European Labour Authority with possibilities for it to organise joint and consorted inspections. In 2021 and 2022 ELA, the European Labour Authority, focused its inspection efforts on the transport sector and in particular on road transport. Four out of five concerted and joint inspections of the European Labour Authority have been in the area of road transport. Furthermore, the European Labour Authority is accelerating its work on concerted and joint inspections and the situation of third-country nationals is very much on its radar. In the context of the monitoring of the Posting of Workers Directive, my services are analysing the situation of temporary cross-border mobile workers and of workers in subcontracting chains.  Other relevant initiatives, such as the skills and talent package we proposed last year, can also help improve third-country nationals’ rights when residing and working in the EU, while enhancing safeguards for equal treatment and protection from labour exploitation.  But the situation in Gräfenhausen also shows the important public opinion reaction, the solidarity of German citizens and churches, as well as support of trade unions, mainly German trade unions, but also trade unions from other countries, with the workers on strike. Collective bargaining and social dialogue are key for preventing labour conflicts and avoiding situations like the one witnessed in Gräfenhausen. The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages supports a wider coverage of collective bargaining, and in January this year, we further proposed a Council recommendation on strengthening social dialogue, which, inter alia, aims to support collective bargaining at national level. I invite the relevant parties to work for a quick solution of this situation on the basis of a constructive dialogue and the full implementation and enforcement of the EU legislation. This will be to the benefit of the workers concerned and their families, as well as to the overall objective to for smooth and fair labour mobility in the EU.