Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The main objective in Europe is to reduce the number of road fatalities to zero by 2050. With this report, we can literally save lives – thank you to Petar Vitanov. Currently, around 40% of cross-border traffic violations remain unpunished. Those who do not comply with the traffic rules abroad will have to fear the withdrawal of their driving licence in the future. Until now, it has been possible to apply for a new driving licence if it has been withdrawn abroad, for example on the grounds that it has been lost or simply a new driving licence has been issued in another country – hardly comprehensible in fact. Now that's over. In the future, the loss of the driving licence will apply throughout Europe. I welcome the new rules. Violations such as excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving without a valid driver's license, dangerous overtaking or dangerous parking will in future be punishable throughout Europe until the driver's license is revoked. This will increase road safety across the EU and reduce the number of road injuries and deaths.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, When we talk about the specific hygienic conditions in rest areas, we have to say: There is still a lack of access to free, clean sanitary facilities such as showers and toilets. There are also too few parking spaces on motorways and highways, making it very difficult for drivers to take the necessary breaks. These conditions make it increasingly difficult to get people excited about this profession. The current example from Gräfenhausen in Germany clearly shows us what bad conditions we are dealing with here. Drivers from non-EU countries went on strike from 17 July to 30 September to get paid at all. It's not just about hygiene conditions. Poor working conditions and social dumping in road freight transport promote the low attractiveness of the profession. Workers from non-EU countries are systematically discriminated against. We are dealing here with unsustainable conditions in international road haulage. The apparent shortage of truck drivers in the EU is leading to rising transport costs and reduced availability of cargo space. This lack threatens economic integration at European level. Numerous empirical studies describe the working situation of drivers as modern slavery, which takes place on an industrial scale, with numerous criminal offences being fulfilled and there being violations of EU standards. Existing provisions of Mobility Package I are insufficiently respected in practice. In addition to discriminating against drivers, this leads to distortions of competition for the entire European transport market. The efforts made so far by the Commission and the Council have not improved the situation. Existing challenges are not addressed or not sufficiently addressed. As Social Democrats, we fought hard for the rights of hard-working truck drivers. All this would be annihilated if the binding rules were simply not controlled. In practice, the control density and fines are too low to produce steering effects. National labour and social law in individual Member States is not always compatible with requirements in other Member States, for example as regards minimum wages. My three concrete demands in this regard are: Violations of social legislation need appropriate consequences. Only in this way can they develop steering effects at European level. Fines must be significantly higher than economic success. This is not the case in many Member States. Effective enforcement is key to the implementation of Mobility Package I. Currently, many authorities with different responsibilities are entrusted with the controls, resulting in poor enforcement of the rules. The level of applicable national minimum wages and the eligible wage components to comply with the minimum wage is often not transparent for transport companies and authorities. The Commission should therefore define guidelines for social standards in European road transport; existing labour law in individual EU Member States should be checked for its admissibility and Member States should be prohibited from counting wage components such as expenses against the minimum wage. This requires an overall European solution, which should not be left to the individual Member States.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, The digital mobility turnaround is a central building block for achieving our climate protection goals. We need to focus on two things. On the one hand, connected and automated mobility is based on data. On the other hand, transport needs to become more digital in order to make mobility safer, more efficient and more sustainable. With this guideline on intelligent transport systems, we will complete data collections and make them available to everyone. The European Parliament has managed to include other important road and traffic data for online use in the negotiations with the Council. This offers enormous potential: more security, more capacity, more efficiency, more sustainability, more comfort and finally a better connection. Digitization in the field of mobility is a key field for the future of industry and data policy. Europe must be at the forefront of data use and data protection, connected mobility and digital innovation in the automotive sector. As a technology hub in the international competition for digital applications, Europe must continue to play a leading role. After all, the digital mobility turnaround is a central building block for achieving climate protection goals. A significant contribution to this is made by the switch from individual to public local and long-distance passenger transport. This transition can only succeed if the sharing of data makes multimodal travel easier and more reliable. Ultimately, we connect all Member States and finally all means of transport with intelligent transport systems.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, With the AFIR report, we as the EU Parliament have achieved great success in terms of climate protection. Provisions on charging infrastructure for cars have been significantly improved to allow for faster deployment of charging stations. We have enforced a step-by-step approach to truck recharging infrastructure, with stricter targets and an increase in recharging capacity over time. Hydrogen filling stations should also be built quickly. The Commission will assess in a timely manner whether these targets should be further strengthened. Card payment will become mandatory at all fast-charging stations and hydrogen refuelling stations – a great success for European consumer protection. In addition, the price per kilowatt should be binding on these pillars. This ensures uniform transparency for all. Another important step is the creation of the EU Access Points the uniform collection of data. In the future, drivers will be able to see much more easily throughout Europe when, where and at what exact price they can load or refuel. Overall, the agreement is balanced and contains numerous gains for the European Parliament. Several aspects of the Commission's proposal have been improved. Ladies and gentlemen, I would ask you to support this dossier in the vote.