The European “MOBILITY PACKAGE” and changes in the Land Transport Ordering Law (LOTT)

After the intense legislative changes that the different regulations have undergone in recent months due to the new reality imposed on us by COVID-19, there are now several definitive changes in the area of land transport, adopted to renew and adjust national and European regulations to current needs.

Firstly, we must mention the “Mobility Package” approved on 9 July by the European Parliament, a package that includes two regulations and a directive whose main objective and purpose is to definitively achieve a single, fair and loyal European transport market, ensuring that all companies in the sector have the same competition rules regardless of their country of establishment.

In the first place, there is EU Regulation 2020/1054 of 15 July 2020 amending Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 as regards minimum requirements on maximum daily and weekly driving times, minimum breaks and daily and weekly rest periods and Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 as regards positioning by means of tachographs, which entered into force partially on 20 August, with the exception of Article 1. 15 and Article 2.12 which will enter into force on 31 December 2024, amending the regulation on driving and rest periods and positioning by means of tachographs, in order to generate clear, appropriate and proportionate rules which are uniformly enforced in order to achieve the strategic objectives of improving drivers’ working conditions and, in particular, to ensure fair competition between operators and contribute to road safety.

Furthermore, we have EU Regulation 2020/1055 of 15 July 2020 amending Regulations (EC) No 1071/2009, (EC) No 1072/2009 and (EU) No 1024/2012 in order to adapt them to developments in the road transport sector, which will enter into force on 21 February 2022 and which, among other things, aims to combat the phenomenon of so-called “letterbox companies” and to ensure fair competition and a level playing field in the internal market by ensuring that road transport operators established in a Member State have a real and continuous presence in that State by carrying out their activities from there. It is therefore necessary to strengthen the provisions relating to the existence of an effective and permanent establishment.

Finally, there is EU Directive 2020/1057 of 15 July 2020, which lays down specific rules with respect to Directive 96/71/EC and Directive 2014/67/EU for the carriage of drivers by road, and which amends Directive 2006/22/EC with respect to enforcement requirements and Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012. This directive essentially regulates the posting of workers in the inland road transport sector and for it to enter into force it must be accepted by the individual states before 2 February 2022, by which date they should have adopted and published all the regulatory and administrative measures necessary to ensure compliance with the directive.

In addition to the above, it is planned to amend the Inland Transport Regulation Act (LOTT) by modifying its content in order to bring the scales of penalties already laid down into line with the new offences provided for in the above-mentioned package of measures. Examples of this are offences relating to driving times and rest periods.

Furthermore, due to the international financial crisis resulting from the pandemic, on 15 September 2020 the Council of Ministers approved the urgent administrative processing of the amendment of the LOTT to include a penalty system against late payment in the road haulage sector. This is because many transport companies have seen their liquidity seriously affected since last March when the health crisis affected their regular traffic and it is clear that, if urgent measures are not taken, their economic situation may be aggravated by non-compliance with the payment deadlines agreed in transport contracts.