Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-22-Speech-3-359"
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"en.20090422.54.3-359"2
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"Mr President, I should like to start by thanking the Commission for its very clear answers. I would emphasise that the restriction on cabotage is a transitional arrangement, that the study is being carried out and that, depending on the result, market opening will also be in prospect.
Another very important aspect is that Article 306 applies here – including, quite clearly, to the Benelux countries, Mr Sterckx, which means that your request is superfluous and we no longer need to support it.
The other thing I want to say here concerns cabotage itself. Following the remarks I have heard here, I think that this compromise is actually even better than I had thought, for the simple reason – and this I address particularly to my fellow Members from the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and my fellow Member from the Dutch Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) – that creating a transitional arrangement does not mean that we wish to throttle the internal market – if I may use that expression – or businesses. If we bear in mind today that certain businesses use state-of-the-art vehicles but pay their drivers EUR 400 per month, whilst other businesses pay EUR 1 500 a month, it strikes me as more than reasonable to say that the social bar needs to be raised somewhat. If there is money available to meet vehicle requirements, there is also money to meet wage requirements. This bar must be raised, and only then can the market be opened. In my view, it is a faulty understanding of an open market to say we should open it and see where we go from there.
My last comment is that the funny thing is always that those very countries – for example the United Kingdom – who block any kind of harmonisation, particularly in the area of taxation, are today saying that there is a lack of harmonisation and so we should just let the market evolve. Some say they want to see restrictions, whilst others say we have far too many restrictions.
If we want to convince the European public, we cannot say that the market should be opened and everything else will sort itself out. Instead, environmental, social and tax legislation must be sorted out in this House together with the Council and the Commission. Then we shall be credible."@en1
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