Bulgarian Road Hauliers to Stage Protest in Brussels Thursday

Bulgarian road hauliers will stage a protest rally in Brussels on January 10 against what they see as discriminatory provisions in proposed EU regulations collectively known as Mobility Package 1. Bulgarian Transport Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov will take part in the demonstration.

The protest will coincide with a meeting of the European Parliament (EP) Transport and Tourism Committee which will vote on new compromises to be tabled to the full EP on the social pillar of Mobility Package 1 (on posting of drivers, on driving and rest time and on cabotage). These three files were rejected by the EP in July and were sent back to the Transport and Tourism Committee for further consideration, the EP recalled on its website.

Over 360 Bulgarian protestors will arrive in Brussels on two charter flights, Bulgaria's Union of International Hauliers (UIH) said on Wednesday. They will be joined by another 100-plus Bulgarian haulier representatives and supporters who live in the Brussels area or rely on their own travel arrangements to get to the city. About 260 Romanian haulier representatives are expected to participate as well.

Ten trucks will stay parked close by during the demonstration. The peaceful protest will not involve blocking of roads, the UIH said.

The protestors plan to chant: "Mobility Package 1 is killing the single market of the EU!"; "No to double standards in the EU's transport sector!"; and "Will the European Parliament legalize a business theft?"

The protest of the Bulgarian road hauliers is supported by the country's President Rumen Radev, Government and Parliament, all Bulgarian political parties and all Bulgarian members of the EP.

The demonstrators will protest against planned EU transport regulations which Bulgaria views as an attempt to introduce double standards, and which are feared to wreck the country's transport sector by limiting competition and forcing many drivers to emigrate. Some of the proposed provisions and requirements will make Bulgaria's international haulage industry non-competitive and will discourage drivers from working in it, the UIH said.

Two of the main demands of the protestors are that trucks should not be required to return to the home country once every four weeks, and drivers should be allowed to spend their mandatory 45-hour weekly rest in the driver's compartment of their truck. They also insist that drivers should not be included in the scope of the Posted Workers Directive because their job is different from those of all other posted workers.

The planned restrictions would affect mainly countries in the EU's periphery, such as Bulgaria, whose geographical location makes it most vulnerable. In their protest, the Bulgarians are supported by Romanian, Polish, Hungarian and Lithuanian associations.

Later on Wednesday, the European Commission said in a press release that European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc met with the transport ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania and Poland to discuss legislative reforms for the road transport sector.

Bulc is quoted as saying after the meeting that Europe needs clear rules for the road transport sector, and status quo is not an option. "Without a solution, we will face amultiplication of uncoordinated national requirements. This would fragment the Internal Market, creating uncertainty, higher costs and a loss of competitiveness for the EU," she said. In her words, the legislative reforms as part of the Mobility Package that the Juncker Commission put forward in May 2017 will address these challenges and make a real difference for both drivers and operators.

Approached by Bulgarian journalists in Brussels after the meeting, Transport Minister Zhelyazkov said that he will attend Thursday's meeting of the EP Transport and Tourism Committee.

Asked about the Bulgarian hauliers' planned protest, he specified it is aimed not at putting pressure or demonstrating power but at showing that the peripheral EU countries, as well as countries such as Portugal, Ireland and Malta, are united against the proposed legislative reforms. "We came here to express our wish to achieve considerable improvements within the vote in the EP, in case we fail to block the legislative proposal at this stage," Zhelyazkov said.

Source: BTA