Social standards in transport need to be enforced according to EU laws and principles

On the 19th of May 2015, the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Germany concerning the introduction of the Minimum Wage Act to the transport sector.

Particularly the social standards in transport and the Minimum Wage Act were the topics of the debate organized by CEBRE with the Czech Permanent Representation to the EU on 2nd June in Brussels. “The Czech Republic supports initiatives that aim to increase conditions of road workers, but fair competition needs to be ensured,” said Jakub Dürr, Deputy Head of the Czech Permanent Representation to the EU at the beginning of the debate. According to MEP Luděk Niedermayer, national governments have the right to introduce social standards initiatives like minimum wage, but they should, at the same time, look at the extent of implementation and consequences it might cause. “In the case of German minimum wage, the legislation is too extensive and costs of compliance are too high,” added Niedermayer. Therefore he hopes that after the intervention of the Commission, there will be no similar measures in other EU member states that cause uncertainty on the internal market.

According to IRU representative Jan Němec, there is a good legislative framework to enhance social standards in the transport sector and a new legislation is not needed, but the current one needs to be enforced. One of the solutions to increase the social standards could be the introduction of social codes as a supplementary tool to legislation. All speakers agreed there is a need for improving safety standards and working conditions in transport sector instead of creating new barriers in the Internal market.