The IRU urges European Transport Ministers not to apply the Posting of Workers Directive (96/71/EC) to cabotage activities, when they meet on 12 June to agree new rules aimed at the EU road haulage market, defining cabotage and limiting the time and number of operations.
Bertil Dahlin, President of the IRU Goods Transport Liaison Committee stated that: "The vast majority of member states are aware of the complexity of applying this directive to road freight cabotage and have chosen to turn a blind eye to implementation. Now that ministers are very close to coming to an agreement on a clear and limited definition of cabotage, the application of the posting of workers directive is redundant. Therefore, the IRU calls on the European Transport Ministers to decisively rule out the application of the Directive on posting of workers to cabotage."
Originally intended to facilitate transnational services by clarifying the minimum legal provisions to be followed, the Posting of Workers Directive has proven unsuitable for the road transport industry, since it does not take into account the sector's highly mobile workforce, transnational character nor the administrative burdens and enforcement difficulties of applying it to road freight cabotage operations.
The European Parliament failed to recognise this complexity by calling for the application of the Posting of Workers Directive not only to cabotage, but also to cross-trade (concerning international transport exclusively) which, as the European Commission has previously said, lies outside the scope of the Posting Directive.
The IRU calls upon the Council of Transport Ministers to avoid supporting this demand by not applying the Posting of Workers Directive to cabotage nor to cross-trade.