Casa wants subsidiarity on minimum wage proposal for hauliers

Nationalist MEP David Casa has pressed the European Commission to check whether a proposed German law on minimum wage of hauliers is in conformity with EU rules. 

Germany would like to enact laws that require non-German haulage companies to pay their lorry drivers at least the minimum wage paid in Germany. Poland, in particular, objects to this German law in the strongest terms.

One typical example of this would be a Polish truck company transporting goods from Poland to the Netherlands, for which the truck would have to travel through Germany. If the driver’s wage is below the German minimum wage, while the truck is travelling on German territory, the driver’s wage would have to be increased at least as much as the German minimum wage.

During yesterday’s evening debate in the European Parliament, EPP Coordinator David Casa, who leads the EPP Group in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, said;

“The points brought forward by those who disagree with these conditions mainly focus on the free movement of goods and services, a cornerstone of the single market. It could be argued that the insistence that a driver is paid depending on his geographic location at a point in time goes against these freedoms and hinders competition.

“Nevertheless, the principle of subsidiarity must be respected. Social policy and issues such as minimum wage and employment conditions are largely Member State competence and this should not change.” 

David Casa called on the Commission to provide legal certainty on which one could then take a sound political decision.