Disturbance of the free movement of goods by Greece

3.3.2016

Question for oral answer O-000041/2016
to the Commission
Rule 128
Angel Dzhambazki, Emil Radev, Zdzisław Krasnodębski, Iliana Iotova, Bernd Lucke, Momchil Nekov, Norbert Erdős, Vladimir Urutchev, Andor Deli, Sergei Stanishev, Nicolas Bay, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Mariya Gabriel, Doru-Claudian Frunzulică, Andrey Kovatchev, Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, Daciana Octavia Sârbu, Andrey Novakov, Joachim Starbatty, Iskra Mihaylova, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Dominique Bilde, Nedzhmi Ali, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Stanisław Ożóg, Janusz Wojciechowski, Filiz Hyusmenova, Edward Czesak, Karol Karski, Kosma Złotowski, Svetoslav Hristov Malinov, Arne Gericke, Evžen Tošenovský, Eva Paunova, Tomáš Zdechovský, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Daniel Buda, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Marijana Petir

In recent years we have witnessed a number of violations of EU law by Greece, the most recent being the blockade of the Bulgarian-Greek border as a result of protests by Greek farmers. Greek trade unions have blocked the border for the past two weeks, disturbing the free movement of goods. Columns of trucks longer than 20 km have formed on both sides of the border crossings. Every day the blockade costs each carrier between EUR 150 and EUR 500. Two thirds of the affected drivers are citizens of Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary or Germany. They are in an extremely difficult situation, with no, or very limited, access to food and drinking water. There are no sanitary facilities, nor any access to medical services.

1. Does the Commission consider that the failure of the Greek Government to terminate this unacceptable situation directly violates the Treaties, in particular Articles 21 and 28 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Articles 1, 2 and 4 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights?

2. If so, what measures does the Commission plan to take to compensate carriers for their losses?