Lithuania to give ‘yellow card’ to EC over truck drivers’ wages

The European Commission says the move is aimed at ensuring more transparency and fair competition.

The Lithuanian parliament and MPs of other Eastern European countries intend to resort to the so-called yellow card procedure, which would put the EC under the obligation of reconsidering the proposed legal act. Under the Brussels’ proposal, posted workers should work under the same conditions, including pay, as local workers.

“Salaries in our countries are lower, which would push our carriers out of competition. We cannot agree to that, we think this violates the principle of subsidiarity,” MP Gediminas Kirkilas told BNS.

Earlier this week, the Kirkilas-led parliamentary European Affairs Committee supported Poland’s proposal to initiate the yellow card procedure.

Erlandas Mikėnas, the president of the Lithuanian association of road carriers Linava, dismissed the EC initiative as an attempt of the European Union‘s old members to eliminate competition from Eastern European businesses.

“This will involve additional costs that we cannot bear. Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania are with us on this issue,” Mikėnas told BNS.

According to Linava, 60,000 people are employed in the transport sector in Lithuania. In 2014, 1,930 employees were posted to Lithuania from other EU member-states, while Lithuania posted 19,208 employees to other countries.

The yellow card procedure requires support of 10 member-states. Activation of the procedure means that the European Commission has three options, namely, to drop the proposal, to amend it or submit it again.