Enforcement requirements and specific rules for posting drivers in the road transport sector - Daily and weekly driving times, minimum breaks and rest periods and positioning by means of tachographs - Adapting to development in the road transport sector (debate)
Roberts Zīle, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Madam President, first of all, I would like to thank President Tajani. He saved the image of the European Parliament last night with his decision, because you cannot legislate in the manner that was proposed until yesterday night. The European Parliament would be seen in that case as a subsidiary of qualified majority of the Council, or even as a subsidiary of the Commission.
Politics also means compromise, always, and Trump did it a year ago, as we remember. Since the plenary voted against this compromise I think we lost any opportunity in this Parliament to get a real compromise, a professional and responsible compromise. And not only until next week, but also until the end of this legislature.
How does our House look in the context of the Mobility Package I? The responsible committee cannot submit a report on two of the three dossiers. The groups, with some exceptions, are so divided that even the biggest political group doesn’t have any coherent group-wide position and so abstains from anything in relation to this package. Even if we continue next month in the same manner, merely outvoting proposals by one or two votes as on Monday in other parts of this House, then what does it mean for citizens in the run-up to the elections? They will think that politicians can sacrifice the single market in road transport for the purposes of using protectionism to meet some national and thus as a way to be re-elected, and we don’t want to see it.