The rules give truck drivers working abroad the right to return home every three to four weeks.
They also require trucks to return to their company’s headquarters every eight weeks. That move aims to stop firms registering businesses in so-called tax haven countries without actually operating there.
Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Malta, and Cyprus were against the new rules, saying that returning empty trucks hurts their hauliers financially and leaves a significant carbon footprint - at a time when the EU is striving to limit greenhouse gas emissions to help fight climate change.
MEPs from Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice party as well as from main opposition Civic Platform party sought to change the regulations and submitted a number of amendments to the package.
But the amendments were rejected by Euro deputies.
The overhaul is promoted by wealthier EU states, including France and the Netherlands, which say the new regulations ensure better working conditions for drivers as well as equal competition rules, according to PAP.
States from Central and Eastern Europe argued that the regulations are a protectionist measure by Western governments which want to push more competitive companies from countries such as Poland out of their markets.
(jh/pk)
Source: PAP
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