EU Advocacy » Working time lorry drivers
Sir,
In June, by a small majority, the European Parliament voted in favour of the inclusion of self-employed lorry drivers in the scope of the 2002 Directive on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities.
Advocates of the inclusion had cited road safety as the main reason. However, there are already two strong measures to guarantee road safety: the tachograph and the vital need for the self-employed to keep their Operating License.
The European Commission proposal aimed to exclude self-employed lorry drivers from a directive that rigorously restricts working hours. Certain MEPs have now set a dangerous precedent in interfering in the manner in which self-employed organise their working time.
This vote is the last thing wanted by a road haulage industry that is already suffering from over regulation, high fuel prices and the recession. The vote will endanger one person businesses. This will see a loss in company formations, a regrettable development because it is well recognised that the majority of today’s road haulage companies started as sole traders.
We therefore urge the European Commission to stand firm, to return this issue in an amended form to the European Parliament, and to ask those MEPs who have a different view to think again.
John Walker
National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses
David Frost
Director General, British Chamber of Commerce
Tina Sommer
President, European Small Business Alliance
Fiona Hall MEP
Leader of the UK Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament
Timothy Kirkhope MEP
Deputy Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group
Leader of the British Conservative Delegation in the European Parliament
Stuart Agnew MEP
United Kingdom
Alexander Alvaro MEP
Germany
Marta Andreasen MEP
United Kingdom
Tom Antonissen
Secretary General, European Confederation of Equipment Distributors (ECED)
Liam Aylward MEP
Ireland
Burkhard Balz MEP
Germany
Bendt Bendtsen MEP
Denmark
President of the SME Circle of the EPP Group
Sharon Bowles MEP
United Kingdom
Philip Bradbourn OBE MEP
United Kingdom
John Brazier
Managing Director, Professional Contractors Group
John Bufton MEP
United Kingdom
Martin Callanan MEP
United Kingdom
David Campbell Bannerman MEP
United Kingdom
Daniel Caspary MEP
Germany
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis MEP
Germany
Giles Chichester MEP
United Kingdom
Derek Clark MEP
United Kingdom
Trevor Colman MEP
United Kingdom
Jürgen Creutzmann MEP
Germany
Earl of Dartmouth MEP
United Kingdom
Diane Dodds MEP
United Kingdom
Leonidas Donskis MEP
Lithuania
Dr. Christian Ehler MEP
Germany
Lena Ek MEP
Sweden
Sari Essayah MEP
Finland
Christofer Fjellner MEP
Sweden
Vicky Ford MEP
United Kingdom
Jacqueline Foster MEP
United Kingdom
Ashley Fox MEP
United Kingdom
Michael Gahler MEP
Germany
Pat the Cope Gallagher MEP
Ireland
Julie Girling MEP
United Kingdom
Małgorzata Handzlik MEP
Poland
Daniel Hannan MEP
United Kingdom
Malcolm Harbour MEP
United Kingdom
Chairman of the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee
Marian Harkin MEP
Ireland
Roger Helmer MEP
United Kingdom
Jolanta Hibner MEP
Poland
Nadja Hirsch MEP
Germany
Monika Hohlmeier MEP
Germany
Vincenzo Iovine MEP
Italy
Danuta Jazłowiecka MEP
Poland
Sidonia Jędrzejewska MEP
Poland
Elisabeth Jeggle MEP
Germany
Filip Kaczmarek MEP
Poland
Sandra Kalniete MEP
Latvia
Dr. Syed Kamall MEP
United Kingdom
Sajjad Karim MEP
United Kingdom
Arturs Karins MEP
Latvia
Sean Kelly MEP
Ireland
Dr. Wolf Klinz MEP
Germany
Chairman, European Parliament Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis
Dieter-Lebrecht Koch MEP
Germany
Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobinska MEP
Poland
Eija-Riitta Korhola MEP
Finland
Jan Kozłowski MEP
Poland
Holger Krahmer MEP
Germany
Jacek Kurski MEP
Poland
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff MEP
Germany
Jim Higgins MEP
Ireland
Baroness Luford MEP
United Kingdom
George Lyon MEP
United Kingdom
Emma McClarkin MEP
United Kingdom
Gesine Meissner MEP
Germany
Gay Mitchell MEP
Ireland
Ray Muscat
Director General - Sectors & Business Development, The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry
Mike Nattrass MEP
United Kingdom
Bill Newton Dunn MEP
United Kingdom
Norica Nicolai MEP
Romania
Michael Nielsen
International Road Transport Union
Paul Nuttall MEP
United Kingdom
Phil Orford
Chief Executive, Forum of Private Business
Sirpa Pietikäinen MEP
Finland
Britta Reimers MEP
Germany
Tony Richman
European Affairs Representative, The Federation of European Movers Associations (FEDEMAC)
Frédérique Ries MEP
Belgium
Olle Schmidt MEP
Sweden
Nikki Sinclaire MEP
United Kingdom
Joanna Skrzydlewska MEP
Poland
Timo Soini MEP
Finland
Renate Sommer MEP
Germany
Laurence Stassen MEP
Netherlands
Peter Stastny MEP
Slovakia
Dirk Sterckx MEP
Belgium
Struan Stevenson MEP
United Kingdom
Dr. Kay Swinburne MEP
United Kingdom
Hannu Takkula MEP
Finland
Dr. Charles Tannock MEP
United Kingdom
Michael Theurer MEP
Germany
Ivo Vajgl MEP
Slovenia
Peter van Dalen MEP
Netherlands
Geoffrey Van Orden MEP
United Kingdom
Oldrich Vlasak MEP
Czech Republic
Graham Watson MEP
United Kingdom
Renate Weber MEP
Romania
Cecilia Wikström MEP
Sweden
Corien Wortmann-Kool MEP
Netherlands
Roberts Zīle MEP
Latvia
Page last updated: 07/07/2010 07:48:24