Romanian carriers will protest on Thursday in Brussels: Western Europe wants us bankrupt!

The Romanian Union of Romanian Road Transporters (UNTRR) invites the entrepreneurs to participate to a protest in Brussels on Thursday. The purpose of the action is to prevent the European Parliament from adopting a series of measures that – according to UNTRR – would give advantages to Western carriers against the Romanian ones.

The protest that will take place during 8:00h-13:00h in Luxembourg Square in Brussels can be attended, according to UNTRR, by 11 trucks and about 600 people, ziare.com reports.

The complainants are that – at the proposal of the Western European Road Alliance – the European Parliament is preparing to adopt a series of measures (from the Mobility Package 1) by which would benefit the entrepreneurs in the developed countries, whereas the ones in Eastern Europe risk going out of business.

According to UNTRR, the EP is preparing to adopt measures “for the benefit of carriers from Western European countries and to the detriment and with the risk of bankruptcy for Romanian carriers”.

In fact, by reviewing some European directives and regulations, the EP wants to give all drivers a number of benefits. For example, the EP would like drivers to receive severance pay (at the minimum level in the other states they work in) in more situations than currently.

In addition, the legislative changes would force drivers not to spend their weekly rest periods in the truck’s cabin – where they do not have relaxation conditions – but to accommodate in specially arranged places.

Last but not least, the drivers could be forced to return to the country every 3-4 weeks to have a normal social life, not a solitary one which increases the risk of illness.

UNTRR Secretary-General Radu Dinescu previously told ziare.com that these measures – although seemingly in the interest of employees – are, in fact, disadvantageous for drivers in Eastern Europe.

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