A small victory for Bulgaria: The requirement to return trucks every 8 weeks to the country of establishment has been abolished

The Court of Justice of the EU ruled on the cases to annul part of the provisions of Mobility Package 1, which were brought on 23 October 2020 by Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Malta and Cyprus, with Estonia and Latvia joining as parties helpers.

Bulgaria made maximum efforts to completely delete the text for returning the vehicle every 8 weeks in the country of establishment. With today's decision of the EU Court, this is already a fact.

The Bulgarian side and like-minded countries have repeatedly presented and reasonably defended the position that the return of the vehicles leads to an increase in the number of empty courses and an unjustified increase in harmful emissions, which is contrary to the goals set in the Green Deal. A study was carried out by KPMG, which showed that the mandatory return of cargo lorries would lead to an increase of harmful emissions from the Bulgarian car fleet alone by 0.8%, the daily traffic at the borders would double, with a subsequent transit time corresponding to an average of 33 hours per truck.

European legislation should allow the adaptation of road heavy goods transport to the objectives of environmental sustainability. The repeal of the disproportionate provision for returning the vehicle is a step in the right direction, which will reduce the number of empty courses and, accordingly, the level of harmful CO 2 emissions.

The Bulgarian side is aware that Mobility Package 1 is a complex legislative package, ensuring a balance between compliance with the basic principles for the functioning of the Single Internal Market and improving the working conditions of drivers.

In this regard, the Bulgarian side welcomes the introduced legal clarity and certainty regarding the provision for returning the driver every 4 weeks by place of residence, with which drivers will have the right to choose the place to use their weekly rest, and employers will be obliged to organize the work process according to way allowing return to the country of establishment.

Bulgaria will continue to work towards improving the working conditions of drivers, as well as ensuring non-discriminatory and proportional rules for the provision of freight transport services in the EU.