Road transport

ECJ ruling on the Mobility Package: BGL, FNTR and NLA regrets annulment of return of vehicle

Today the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rejected all lawsuits put forward against the Mobility Package apart from the return of the vehicle obligation to country of establishment every 8 weeks, which has been annulled.

Apart from the annulment of the return of vehicle provision, the Common Road Transport Office of BGL, FNTR and NLA welcomes the ruling that dismisses all other lawsuits put forward by 7 EU Member States. We see this as a strong confirmation of the commitment to ensure equal competition and fight social dumping practices in European road freight transport.

Unfortunately, however, the court has lifted the obligation for vehicles to return to the country of establishment every eight weeks. The Court refers to the lack of an impact assessment as the reason. We believe that such a formal error should not be used to go against the interests of fair competition in Europe. This is not only a slap in the face for road transport companies who have already moved their company headquarters to the Member State in which they carry out their transport activities as a result of the Mobility Package. The return obligation is also essential to ensure good and fair working condition for road haulage companies and their drivers in Europe, fight “flag of convenience” practices and link the legislative texts of the Mobility Package together in a good balance.

The Common Road Transport Office therefore calls on the European Commission to submit a legislative proposal as soon as possible after an “impact assessment” so that the EU legislators can make the return obligation a part of the Mobility Package again.

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