The mobility package has been adopted: what awaits Lithuanian carriers now

Apocalypse or order?

The EP formally adopted the Mobility Package at second reading on Wednesday night: all the proposed amendments were rejected and the Mobility Package was automatically approved. If the amendments were to be adopted, the legislation would have to be reconsidered and the entire procedure repeated.

In total, several dozen amendments were tabled. An absolute majority of MEPs (at least 353) was required for one of them to be approved. The majority, around 500 MEPs, voted against the amendments.

Lithuanian representatives in the European Parliament almost unanimously promised to support the amendments. Only Aušra Maldeikienė stood out, who did not hide his skeptical attitude towards the official position of Lithuania and the commercial warnings that the Mobility Package would negatively affect the country’s carriers, as well as the economy of Lithuania in general.

Lithuania has actively tried to oppose certain provisions of the Mobility Package. This issue was raised at the European Council by both President Gitanas Nausėda and diplomats from various EU institutions. For example, last week Lithuania launched a joint letter from MEPs from 9 EU countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Cyprus and Malta) to MEPs asking for the mobility package to be amended, as it goes against the functioning of the EU single market and protection of the environment. This letter of 18 ministers received attention in the Brussels bubble, but, as we can see in the vote in the European Parliament, it did not even convince the MEPs of some of the authors of the letter.

Therefore, the mobility package will be published soon in the Official Journal of the EU, and its first provisions will take effect in 20 days.

According to opponents of this legislation, almost an apocalypse is expected: 25 percent. the number of empty trucks on the roads will increase, 10-14 percent. transportation prices will increase by 15-20 percent. The cargo market will shrink. From this year 9 to 27 percent of Lithuanian carriers are said to be waiting. decrease in business volumes, which will lead to 1.3-2.7 percent. Lithuania’s GDP is declining, with the transport sector accounting for around 13 percent. GDP of the country.

Supporters say the Mobility Package will strengthen social guarantees for drivers, introduce order into the logistics market and curb unfair competition, through which Eastern EU carriers have seized a large share of the market. from their western counterparts.

Rest at home and in bed soon?

But let’s start from the beginning. The rules on the work and rest of drivers should take effect in a few weeks. They stipulate that carriers will have to schedule so that drivers can return home regularly (at least every three to four weeks, depending on the schedule). Opponents of mobility retaliate and why the driver cannot rest where he wants and must return home.

The mobility package also stipulates that the mandatory weekly rest period will no longer be available in the cab of the truck. T.y. There must be rest outside the cabin after more than 45 hours of work, and if the rest is spent away from home, the company must pay for the accommodation.

This in itself will increase the costs of logistics companies (the cost of operations will increase by at least 100,000 euros per year). However, as opponents of the Mobility Package point out, the biggest problem is the lack of infrastructure for leisure drivers. Currently, there is even a lack of freeway parking spaces, where drivers must rest after driving for a while, and those who are not always sanitary.

Proponents of the mobility package expect the market to react and meet increased demand once the new rules come into effect. Some large logistics companies are already building or planning to invest in recreational driver infrastructure. Opponents are convinced that a transition period was necessary, as drivers and companies will now be forced to cheat, as has been the case with tachometer readings so far.

The advantage of a poor EU country will disappear

Other provisions of the Mobility Package, such as the rules on the publication of drivers, the return of trucks and access to the market, will apply one and a half years after the publication of the legislation, that is. around 2022

The rules on the shipment of drivers, which apply to cabotage (transport operations in another EU country after a cross-border delivery of goods), as well as to any non-bilateral or transit international transport to and from your own country, require compliance with the labor laws of the host country. Generally speaking, drivers of a Lithuanian company transporting goods in Germany will have to pay a German salary and provide local social guarantees.

Opponents of the mobility package have no major claims to this provision, as one of the reasons why the European Commission took up the offers of the mobility package, and there was unfair competition, with drivers leaving EU companies from the It was cheaper or even cheaper (through travel expenses, etc.), which allowed them to offer customers a more attractive price for their services. It is true that it is emphasized that the standard of living differs between members of the eastern and western EU, and that drivers’ wages are linked to the standard of living.

Are Western countries closing their markets?

The cabotage restrictions in the mobility package provide for a maximum of three trips for seven days, with a mandatory period of four days before a new cabotage operation begins in the same country with the same vehicle.

Opponents of mobility say this is another attempt by wealthy EU countries to restrict other companies from entering their markets. The EP itself maintains that more than half of the EU cabotage was accounted for in Germany, and 40% this was done by Polish carriers. “

However, opponents of the Mobility Package consider the biggest blow to the EU’s free internal market to be the rules on the return of tractors, which will also require trucks to return to their country of registration every eight weeks. According to the proponents, the objective is to combat the registration of fictitious cargo companies, where the company’s headquarters is only a mailbox.

Opponents believe this is a direct attempt to oust companies from countries furthest from transport hubs from the market. For example, returning a truck to Lithuania and leaving it again costs around 1.6 thousand. Companies operating in all the Baltic States will cost an additional € 120 million. by year. At the same time, it is a severe blow to the green course declared by the EU. The return of tugs in just 7 EU countries will issue an additional 3.2 million. tons of CO2

It is the latest arguments from opponents of the Mobility Package that have interested the European Commission. An analysis of the impact on the climate, the environment and the single market is currently underway, the results of which will be published in the autumn. The Commission will decide whether to provide improvements to the mobility package.

Lithuanian carriers do not place too much hope on this and are already raising or planning to approach central Europe. At the same time, there is talk of reducing the number of operations, the fleet and the number of employees, although it is recognized that small and medium-sized companies will be the most affected by the Mobility Package, since large companies have been preparing to this for a long time.

It is true that Lithuanian operators are also concerned that the Mobility Package does not pay due attention to the problem of third country operators, ie. it is unclear how they will ensure that they meet the expected requirements, which could give them a competitive advantage.

Go to the EU Court of Justice

On the other hand, Lithuanian officials are not going to give up under the pressure of the logistics business and see the impact of this sector on the country’s economy.

“Lithuania has consistently advocated for strengthening the EU’s internal market, and the government will do everything possible to preserve the competitiveness of Lithuanian carriers,” Justice Minister Elvinas Jankevičius told Delfi.

There are plans to appeal certain provisions of the Mobility Package to the EU Court of Justice, which interprets EU law to ensure its uniform application in all EU countries and settles legal disputes between EU governments and institutions. of the EU. According to the diplomats, the main objective is the procedure mentioned above to return the trucks to their country of origin, and in one way or another, 8 other countries, opponents of the Mobility Package, or even more countries should join the demand.

“After the European Parliament and the Council of the EU approve the EU Mobility Package, Lithuania, together with other EU countries that do not support the provisions of the mobility package, will assess the legal provisions and their impact to ensure equal competition for EU carriers, regardless of their country of registration, “said the Minister of Justice cautiously.

According to him, after the final adoption of the Mobility Package by the EU institutions, an action can be brought before the Court of Justice of the EU within 2 months.

“After the legal acts of the mobility package are published in the Official Journal of the EU, a position will be prepared to file a claim before the Court of Justice of the EU and will be submitted for consideration at a meeting of the Government of the Republic from Lithuania. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania will decide whether the lawsuit could be brought on Lithuania’s initiative or if it will intervene in cases initiated by other EU countries, “explained E. Jankevičius, adding that the case law of the EU Court of Justice shows