Απρ92019

 

“Tachograph”: FIEC welcomes breakthrough agreement in the European Parliament

After an unusually long and complex procedure, FIEC is glad to see that the outcomes of the European Partliament’s vote on 4 April recognise the fact that construction enterprises are not road transport companies!
Indeed, FIEC advocated that the use of tachographs in vehicles is not adapted at all to the specific circumstances of construction, so that construction enterprises should be excluded from the scope of the legislation.
The following exceptions are foreseen from which construction enterprises benefit:
– an exemption for light commercial vehicles (from 2.4 tonnes) used for the transport of goods, which especially alleviates the effects of the increased scope for construction enterprises operating in border regions;
– an extension of the existing exemption for vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7.5 tonnes from a 100 km to a 150 km radius, which facilitates the work of construction enterprises;
– the possibility for national exemption of vehicles up to 44 tonnes used by construction enterprises up to a 100 km radius.
This vote opens the way for interinstitutional negotiations with the Council, which adopted its position in December 2018.

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Finally: the beginning of an EU strategy towards China

Following a decade of relentless lobbying, the European construction industry very much appreciates that at least some of its arguments and requests can be found both in the European Commission’s “Strategic Outlook” of 12/3/2019 (https://bit.ly/2J7AwRd) and in the Council conclusions of 22/3/2019 (https://bit.ly/2VwGpcv).
From the point of view of the construction industry, in particular the following Commission actions are interesting:
Action 6: promote reciprocity and open up procurement opportunities in China.
Most regrettably, the text seems to be limited to the adoption of the International Procurement Instrument which the European construction industry has always considered as insufficient for the intended purpose..

Action 7: To ensure that not only price but also high levels of labour and environmental standards are taken into account, the Commission will publish guidance by mid-2019 on the participation of foreign bidders and goods in the EU procurement market.
This is a good first step, but it needs more, in order to ensure that contracting authorities do not award contracts to abnormally low tenders (ALT) based on unfair competition by third country state aid. The construction industry will give its input to the efforts of Commission and Member States to identify gaps and shortcomings in the current legal framework.
Action 8: To fully address the distortive effects of foreign state ownership and state financing in the internal market, the Commission will identify before the end of 2019 how to fill existing gaps in EU law.
Very good intentions! The construction industry will contribute to the Commission’s work.

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Social Security: No qualified majority amongst Member States

Despite the provisional agreement reached in the “trilogue” negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council, the representatives of the Member States (COREPER) did not reach the qualified majority needed to endorse such agreement.17 countries supported the agreement, but another group of countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Sweden) constituted a sufficient minority to block it.

The main criticisms concern the anticipated duration of unemployment benefits, the provisions regarding prior notification before a worker is sent to another Member State and the proposed extension of the period of transition from the State of residence to the State of activity.

The discussions in the Council will continue, but no precise timetable has been set yet. The vote in the European Parliament has therefore also been cancelled for the moment. With the EU elections approaching, the approval of the revised Regulation on Social Security looks less certain with every passing day.