The Minister of Transport Ťok was negotiating in Brussels the sending of drivers abroad

The Minister of Transport Ťok was negotiating in Brussels the sending of drivers abroad
6/12/2017Press releases

On Tuesday, 5 December 2017, a meeting of the EU Council, consisting of transport ministers, was held in Brussels and the Minister of Transport Dan Ťok was also attending for the Czech Republic. The minister warned at the EU Council that it is a big challenge to send drivers abroad. However, the Czech Republic is still ready to contribute to finding compromises that will improve the social conditions drivers while not compromising the competitiveness of Czech transport businesses. It is in the interest of the Czech Republic to find a European solution rather than adopt unilateral national measures.

The Minister of Transport Ťok was negotiating in Brussels the sending of drivers abroad

In their speeches, the ministers were primarily focusing on matters connected with sending drivers abroad, with cabotage rules and the question of drivers sleeping in the truck cabins. Minister Ťok said that the directive on sending drivers abroad is very difficult to apply to road transport. However, the Czech Republic is still ready to contribute to finding compromises that will improve the social conditions drivers while not compromising the competitiveness of Czech transport businesses. It is in the interest of the Czech Republic to find a European solution rather than adopt unilateral national measures.

"We have clarified our position. We want drivers to be allowed to have their weekly rest in the driver's cabin. We are willing to agree on a compromise saying that rest will take place in a parking area equipped with other infrastructure as well, i.e. with showers and the possibility to eat at the table and buy decent food. We are also willing to agree that the driver must get home every four weeks. However, we insist that the transit should be at least ten days and we were also discussing that cabotage could end at the five-day limit. The negotiations were still passionate, but we are already approaching a possible compromise we should find within six months or one year," said the Minister of Transport Dan Ťok.

The minister also informed about control action held in September 2017 by the Ministry of Transport in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. This action focused on compliance with administrative obligations for workers in the transport industry who were sent abroad. The checks showed that western European drivers and their employers have usually no idea what documents they shall submit under the current European regulations. As part of this extraordinary preventive action, a total of 58 drivers were checked, of which 31 at Rozvadov border crossing and 27 drivers at the Hatě border crossing. Most of these 58 checked drivers were from Germany and Poland. Seven non-EU drivers were checked as well. The Czech Republic did not fine anybody for the non-compliance, but – on the contrary – our controllers were patiently explaining the obligations to be fulfilled by everybody regardless of the country of origin" added ministrr Ťok.

The ministers also discussed road tolls. The Czech Republic considers the extension of the scope of the Toll Directive to all vehicles as a way to unify the rules in this area across the European Union. However, it is necessary to set a sufficient period for adopting the new rules after introducing these changes. The Czech Republic also believes that member states should have sufficient freedom in deciding whether to choose mileage-based or time-based toll.

Other topics discussed with the Council included the adoption of a progress report on the regulation on the protection of competition in air transport, the adoption of TEN-T and CEF Council conclusions, Council conclusions on transport digitisation and the Council conclusions on the mid-term evaluation of the European satellite programmes GALILEO and EGNOS and the Prague-based GSA agency for their control. Regarding this topic, the ministers appreciated the recent work of the agency and promoted its further development.



 
Back to article list