Budapest to host V4 road haulage forum

Representatives of the Association of International Road Transport Carriers in Poland (ZMPD), Česmad Bohemia from the Czech Republic, Česmad Slovakia and the host Hungarian Road Transport Association (MKFE) will consider the negative consequences East European hauliers experience from the extension of existing EU directives on the posting of workers to the road transport industry.

Several hundred thousand trucks operate in the V4 countries, a capacity which is essential to maintaining supply chains in the European Union, the organizers of the forum say. Supplying production plants located in Eastern Europe with raw materials and forwarding of the finished products to markets is carried out almost exclusively by East European hauliers, they note. Restrictions on these services would lead to a surge in prices in the whole of the community, jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of jobs in its Eastern regions, they argue.

The organizations participating in the Budapest talks are also expected to express their opinions on whether German, French, and, most recently, Austrian administrative burdens on goods and passenger transport operations pose unrealistic technical barriers to the freedom to provide services.

The participants are planning to form a common position with regard to the accusations of “social dumping” and unfair competition made by West European countries. East European hauliers say they operate legally and in full compliance with EU and local legislation alike.