EU – Baltic States, Labour Unions, Transport

Around 600 haulers from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland and Lithuania plan to join a protest outside the European Parliament on Jan. 10, organized by the Bulgarian hauler's association.

"The Transport Committee will vote on the Mobility Package, and this event is coordinated with that date," Tomas Garuolis, transport policy secretary at the Lithuanian national road carriers association, LINAV, told.

Proposed by the European Commission in 2017, the Mobility Package is aimed at improving road safety and conditions for drivers. Lithuanian wants fair conditions to be ensured for long-distance haulers to compete for cargo across the EU.

In early December, the EU Transport Council agreed on key provisions of the Mobility Package and Lithuania managed to secure a provision that empty trucks won’t have to return to their country of origin.

Transport Minister Rokas Masiulis told then such a requirement would have destroyed the business of Lithuanian haulers.

He also said the European Parliament still needs to agree on the proposal and negotiations between the EU Council and the Parliament will follow.

According to Masiulis, the issue of drivers' rest will also move to the Parliament. The requirement for drivers to rest at hotels is hardly implementable due to a lack of infrastructure.

Masiulis refrained to estimate when the final texts would be confirmed but did not discount the possibility that it would be done by the next European Parliament already.