19 Jan UETR at Transpo Project event “The posting of workers within road transport sector in the EU” at EESC
24 November 2011 – UETR has intervened in the conference “The posting of workers within road transport sector in the EU” in the framework of the TRANSPO project on the 23 rd of November 2011 in Brussels at the European Economic and Social Committee.
The event has tackled the issue of distorted implementation of directive 96/71. In this regards, UETR has underlined the importance of ensuring quality in road freight sector- economic efficiency and social fairness in particular. “A big concern for small haulers is costs- there is no harmonization of social legislation in terms of labour cost which is crucial to obtain a level playing field and a really integrated internal market. Moreover, in some EU member states current transport rates are much lower than the actual cost of the service, which is the minimum sufficient tariff allowing the company to cover all the transportation costs plus a minimum of income” said UETR Secretary General Marco Digioia. “UETR represents also micro companies, so we must highlight the risk of unfair competition for them. For example, a self-employed driver or a transport company employing two or three drivers do not use posted workers, so they are victim of the negative consequences, in terms of unfair competition, of abuse practices from other companies using posted workers in a distorted way”.
UETR has always underlined the link between the matter of transportation costs, social protection and road safety: “We believe that the phenomenon of abuse is a clear symptom of existing failures to complete today’s internal market. With a level playing field, a transport undertaking from a Western EU member State will be no more pushed to use posted workers from an Eastern member just in order to lower the overall costs” he added.
A correct implementation and harmonized enforcement of directive 96/71 is of paramount importance. But in terms of general policy, UETR highlights the need to reduce costs in Western Europe (e. g. tolls, gasoline, excise duties, insurance, tyres etc), which is the only way to have a genuine internal market in which goods and workers move around and road transport companies fairly compete.
View the final Conference here.
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