8th parliamentary term Marian HARKIN

. ‒ The EU defines the key proposals on the labour market strategy for the Member States in the Employment Guidelines (EGs). The EGs are decided by the Council only, and therefore need to be reviewed each year. This year, the revised guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States have been amended to align the text with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, with the overall aim to improve Europe’s competitiveness and make it a better place to invest, create jobs and foster social cohesion. Essentially the revised EG’s are the following: Guideline 5 - Boosting the demand for labour, Guideline 6 – Enhancing labour supply, the access to employment, skills and competences, Guideline 7 – Enhancing the functioning of labour markets and the effectiveness of social dialogue and, Guideline 8 – Promoting equal opportunities for all, fostering social inclusion and combatting poverty. I voted in favour of this report, as it is important that the EG is moderated to reflect the goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

I voted against this report, as this legislation will have a massively negative impact on Irish road hauliers. Although I am not a member of the TRAN Committee, I have followed this file closely for the last 18 months. The Irish Road Haulage Association has always been advocating a reasonable Mobility Package. However, too many contradicting amendments went through the TRAN Committee filtering process (prior to the vote in Plenary) by a relatively small majority. Some of them encompass huge threats to the internal market. The Irish road haulage sector cannot afford these. I also voted to have these files taken off the agenda because it is possible that the next Parliament will take a more understanding position on posting, cabotage or driving and rest time. Unfortunately, the files remained on the agenda. With the ongoing issues surrounding Brexit, it is still possible that we will end up with a hard Brexit by accident; we now might end up with unaffordable social rules for Irish hauliers because these files passed through this Parliament.

I voted against this report, as this legislation will have a massively negative impact on Irish road hauliers. Although I am not a member of the TRAN Committee, I have followed this file closely for the last 18 months. The Irish Road Haulage Association has always been advocating a reasonable Mobility Package. However, too many contradicting amendments went through the TRAN Committee filtering process (prior to the vote in Plenary) by a relatively small majority. Some of them encompass huge threats to the internal market. The Irish road haulage sector cannot afford these. I also voted to have these files taken off the agenda because it is possible that the next Parliament will have a more understanding position on posting, cabotage or driving and rest time. Unfortunately, the files remained on the agenda. With the ongoing issues surrounding Brexit, it is still possible that we will end up with a hard Brexit by accident; we now might end up with unaffordable social rules for Irish hauliers because these files passed through this Parliament.