The decision was made in Brussels at a meeting of the bloc’s education ministers on Thursday.
The package had already been agreed in December. It gives truck drivers working abroad the right to return home every three to four weeks, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s news agency IAR reported.
The new rules 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, which are now expected to be discussed by the European Parliament.
Polish Deputy Science and Higher Education Minister Anna Budzanowska said the new package is harmful to her country’s transport companies because it will increase costs and red tape.
She added: "There is a serious risk of negative effects, not only for the transport sector.”
Budzanowska added that the new rules will also be harmful to the environment, because so-called “empty runs” back to company headquarters every eight weeks will cause more greenhouse gas emissions.
The regulations are expected to come into force half-way through this year.
(jh/pk)
Source: IAR