On 4 December 2018 the Council of the European Union agreed on its general position with respect to two Commission’s proposals included, respectively, in the first and second part of the ‘mobility package’.

In line with its Work Programme, in 2017 the European Commission proposed a set of initiatives to make traffic safer, encourage smart road charging, reduce CO²emissions, air pollution and congestion, cut red-tape for businesses, fight illicit employment and ensure proper social conditions for workers. Such set of initiatives mainly adopted to bolster competitive mobility and transports, clean mobility, safety and connectivity in the transport sector is known as ‘mobility package’.

The first proposal is aimed at introducing clearer, fairer and more enforceable rules for truck drivers. The draft provision shall guarantee the tracking of trucks crossing States’ borders by means of smart tachographs installed in these vehicles, compulsory by the end of 2024. Cabotage (transport companies’ operations carried out within a national market outside their own country) will be kept on a rate of maximum three allowed operations in seven days, with a chance of effectively monitor drivers’ compliance thanks to said tachographs. Moreover, the principle of the same pay for the same work at the same place, will be generally applied to truck drivers, with a derogation given in case of bilateral transport operations, as the link between the driver’s work and the country of establishment remains intact.

The second proposal concerns the development of combined transport by encouraging modal shifts in haulage. Through an update of the 1992 combined transport directive, multimodal transports will become easier thanks to extra flexibility on the length of the roads’ legs towards trans-shipment terminals as well as funding to refurbish such facilities. Under the Council’s general approach, the newer framework will apply to both intra-EU and extra-EU transport operations and the Member States will retain the power of enforcing cabotage and time limitations for the continuous presence of vehicles in their territory.

Davide Scavuzzo