Written explanations of vote - 8th parliamentary term Doru-Claudian FRUNZULICĂ

I welcome the Commission proposal for a regulation amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose citizens are exempt from that requirement, as regards the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union. The proposal is part of the legislative measures to adjust Union law to Brexit. It aims to clarify the situation of UK nationals when Union law ceases to apply to them as regards visa policy. The report recommends inserting the United Kingdom as regards British citizens into Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 (i.e. in the list of third countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa requirement).

. ‒ The purpose of the report is to adopt guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States. The instructions were first taken together in 2010, underpinning the Europe 2020 strategy. In 2018, they were aligned with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, to drive reforms at national level and to serve as a compass for a renewed process of convergence across Europe. I voted against the report while the validity of the broad economic policy guidelines is not limited to any specific period. The employment guidelines need to be drawn up each year. The Commission considers that the employment guidelines adopted in 2018 should remain stable to ensure a focus on their implementation.

The current evaluation of the social legislation in road transport in the EU has shown shortcomings in the current legal framework and problems regarding enforcement. Furthermore, several discrepancies exist between the Member States in interpretation, application, and implementation of the rules. This creates legal uncertainty and unequal treatment of drivers and operators, which is detrimental to the working, social and competition conditions in the sector. The Commission aims to amend the existing rules unsuccessfully to make the road transport sector fair, efficient and socially accountable, while at the same time to mitigate the excessive regulatory burdens on operators and preventing distortions of competition. Therefore I strongly oppose it since we need fair, equal conditions for all European drivers.