Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov presented the Bulgarian position on the Mobility Package I during a meeting with one of the dossier rapporteurs, Wim van de Camp. The Ministers of Transport of Lithuania, Hungary and Poland also attended the meeting and supported the Bulgarian position. Jeliazkov informed Wim van de Camp for the upcoming protest of the Bulgarian hauliers in front of the European Parliament, which is appointed for tomorrow during the vote on the Package. He emphasized that our haulers disagree with the Common Approach achieved during the Austrian Presidency as they expect the necessary balance to be reached during the discussions at the European Parliament.
The Minister appealed to Wim van de Camp to support finding fair and reasonable decisions during the European Parliament's negotiation process as well as during the trilogue meetings.
Minister Jeliazkov expressed once again disappointment with the adopted European approach to the Package, which does not take into account the position of almost 30% of the European citizens. He pointed out that fundamental rights, freedoms and the normal functioning of the free market are threatened by restrictive, disproportionate and protectionist measures imposed.
Rosen Jeliazkov warned that such action would encourage Euroscepticism in Europe.
The Minister said the Bulgarian side had repeatedly disagreed with the texts, which envisages that drivers must return to their home countries after every four weeks of driving, the rules for posting and the total ban on resting in the trucks cabin.
"It is extremely important to protect the fundamental human rights of the drivers in order to have the option of choosing where to spend their free time, otherwise their rights are violated," said the transport minister. He reported as a serious problem the enforcement of ban on sleeping in the track cabins before a sufficient number of parking lots in the Trans-European road network to be build. Rossen Jeliazkov also called for realistic time limits to refit trucks with intelligent tachographs, as currently there is no product available on the market as well as an adequate solution for the replacement of driver’s cards.
