Working time for road transport workers rejected by MEPs
Working time for road transport workers rejected by MEPs
The European Parliament rejected, at first reading, a proposal by Commission amending the existing Directive on "the organisation of working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities". The draft proposal does not take into account Parliament's demand of the full inclusion of self-employed drivers, MEPs say. The amendment to reject the Commission proposal put forward by the PES, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL was adopted with 332 votes in favour, 307 against and 6 abstentions.
The European Parliament adopted the report drawn up by Marie PANAYOTOPOULOS-CASSIOTOU (EPP-ED, EL) rejecting the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities. It calls on the Commission to withdraw its proposal and take appropriate steps together with Parliament to submit a new proposal.
"The European Commission proposal contradicts Parliament's demands for the full inclusion of self-employed drivers within the scope of the Directive after the transitional period by 23 March 2009 as laid down in directive 2002/15/EC. It also contradicts the recent motion for a resolution of October 2008 by the European Parliament which reaffirmed the demand for the full inclusion of self-employed drivers - the report by Alejandro CERCAS (PES, ES) on the implementation of social legislation relating to road transport - which also calls on Member States to implement the Directive as soon as possible in the interests of road safety and the health and safety of drivers", states the text adopted.
The Commission proposed to address the issue of false self-employed workers – drivers that are not tied by an employment contract but do not have the freedom to have relations with several customers. The proposal aims at better clarifying the definitions of mobile workers.
Directive 2002/15/EC became applicable on 23 March 2005. Its common rules ensure minimum social protection standards for mobile workers in the road transport sector and are perceived as an important step towards improving the health and safety protection of mobile workers in this area.
When adopting the Directive after a conciliation procedure, Council and Parliament agreed that it should in principle apply to self-employed drivers from 23 March 2009. In addition, the Commission is requested to present a report at the latest two years before that date to the European Parliament and the Council, followed by a legislative proposal based on the report, which would either define the modalities for the inclusion or exclude the self-employed drivers from the scope of the Directive.
The Commission report concluded that there was not a decisive case for including self-employed drivers under the directive, but that it was important to address the issue of definitions and make them clear through an appropriate amendment that the notion of mobile worker covered by the directive also included the so-called 'false' self-employed drivers.