Illegal Euro drivers face EC clampdown
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• by Karen Wes A new system of driver identification to help end the illegal use of Eastern European drivers by Ell hauliers is expected from the European Commission.
The EU's policy-making body is set to come up with a scheme to improve the enforcement of EU employment law so illegal nonEU drivers and the EU hauliers who use them can be more easily identified and prosecuted.
At the centre of the proposals is likely to be the creation of a common document for EU and non-EU drivers working for EU hauliers. heralding a common employment licence for drivers similar to the Operator's Licence for EU vehicles. This would help enforcement and protect FLI hauliers who are using their own countries' drivers.
Only Eastern European drivers with the right work permits could acquire these documents from the authorities of their employers' home countries. This would allow EU enforcement agencies to check at the roadside if an Eastern European driver was driving an EU-registered vehicle legally.
The proposals are set to be produced by the end of the year because the EC argues the problem of illegal cheap drivers from countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Turkey must be stamped out before more EU hauliers turn to them to survive. Any proposals would have to be endorsed by EU transport ministers and Euro MPs before becoming law.
So far, EU hauliers employing Eastern Europeans have received little attention from the authorities because each of the EU's 15 countries have their awn complex rules governing their use. Once a haulier's vehicles are in anotner EU state they benefit from a "legal void", according to the EC, where, for example, an Italian enforcement officer has little idea of the paperwork required by a Bulgarian driving a Danish vehicle.
The proposed system will put the operations of a growing numbers of EU hauliers under scrutiny. Reports suggest hauliers employing double-manned, cheap, Eastern Europeans can cut their costs by up to 40%. German-owned Willi Betz is well known for using Eastern European drivers but stresses that it operates within the law.