European Parliament puts subcontracting and intermediation practices in the spotlight 

13 Feb European Parliament puts subcontracting and intermediation practices in the spotlight 

UETR welcomes the adoption by the European Parliament of the report on addressing subcontracting chains and the role of intermediaries.

The European Parliament has sent a political signal by formally acknowledging the challenges linked to subcontracting chains and business intermediation in the sector. The adoption of the report by the Plenary Session places these issues on the EU agenda and establishes a clear basis for future EU action.

Sub-contracting and intermediation platforms are a legitimate business practice capable of improving efficiency in the transport sector. However, the existence of excessive and untransparent ones facilitates social dumping, competition distortion and unfair practices. This weakens smaller transport companies’ negotiating power and undermine their margins and ability to invest in fleet renewal and decarbonisation and workforce.

The report highlights the need for stronger transparency, more effective liability rules in the chain and reinforced enforcement, and this reflects long-standing concerns of UETR.

The European Parliament has provided a structured framework for addressing these issues at the EU level for action.

UETR also underlines the constructive cooperation with the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), which culminated in a joint letter to the Members of the European Parliament ahead of the Plenary vote. This joint engagement demonstrated that tackling abusive subcontracting and intermediation is essential both to ensure a level playing field for quality transport SMEs and to protect workers, thereby enhancing fairness and the attractiveness of the profession.

UETR calls on the EU institutions to ensure follow up action towards a fair and competitive EU road haulage market.