UETR position on a European Labour Agency

22 Mar UETR position on a European Labour Agency

In his 2017 State of the European Union address, President Juncker has proposed that a European Labour Authority (ELA) be established to strengthen cooperation between labour market authorities at all levels and better manage cross-border situations.

As industry stakeholder, UETR wants to stress the importance ELA would have for the road transport sector.

International freight transport by road has been liberalised long ago inside the EU. The market of goods transport by road is a market in which predominantly small and medium sized enterprises are active. Their vulnerability and the change of business model in various EU Member States are to be considered for future actions from EU Policy makers.

In particular, the future adoption of the”Mobility Package”, will require a close follow up and appropriate instruments to make sure that liberalisation goes hand in hand with fair competition all over the EU. This will require a uniform and effective enforcement of EU provisions.

All the actors throughout the transport/supply chain must be committed to compliance with the rules. The co-liability principle is essential for a true compliance culture.

Not only the same European legislation is implemented and interpreted differently in each Member State (depending on a number of variables such as different culture, approach, procedures, etc.), generating legal uncertainty. The differences in severity of sanctions for the same infraction is also a deep concern for road haulers. Existing legislation has to be not just controlled, but also sanctioned in a uniform way.

There is a strong need of specialised control officers, working following the same procedures and interpretation all over the EU.

We believe an effective Labour Authority can contribute to achieve the goal of a more integrated road transport Internal Market.

UETR position on ELA (full text).