The Dutch legislation on cross-border posting in road transport has been in force since 1 June 2023. This legislation requires transport companies to submit a notification for posted drivers through the European Union (EU) Posting Declaration portal and to provide them with an appropriate hard core of working conditions.
What does posting mean under the new rules of the Mobility Package?
Posting refers to drivers who work temporarily in a country other than the country in which their employer is established. This may have implications for the working conditions to which they are entitled. If they are posted to a country with a higher minimum wage – or a higher wage under a collective agreement – than in the home country, they are entitled to the higher wage. Other working conditions, such as holiday entitlement, may also differ.
When is there a posting, and where do you need to submit a notification for a driver?
| Pure provision of services: A foreign driver is employed by a company established in another EU Member State. | Intra-group secondment: A foreign driver employed by an establishment within a group or concern in another EU Member State is seconded to an establishment in the same group in the Netherlands. | Temporary agency work: A driver is hired by a transport company established in the Netherlands via a temporary employment agency from another EU Member State. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabotage | The rules of the European Mobility Package apply. A notification for the posting must be submitted using the EU Posting Declaration portal (IMI). | This falls under the rules of the Terms of Employment Posted Workers in the European Union Act (WagwEU). A notification for the posting must be submitted using the Dutch notification portal. | This falls under the rules of the Terms of Employment Posted Workers in the European Union Act (WagwEU). A notification for the posting must be submitted using the Dutch notification portal. |
| Non-bilateral transport (cross-trade) | The rules of the European Mobility Package apply. A notification for the posting must be submitted using the EU Posting Declaration portal (IMI). | This falls under the rules of the Terms of Employment Posted Workers in the European Union Act (WagwEU). A notification for the posting must be submitted using the Dutch notification portal. | This falls under the rules of the Terms of Employment Posted Workers in the European Union Act (WagwEU). A notification for the posting must be submitted using the Dutch notification portal. |
| Bilateral transport | There is no posting. No notification is required. | There is no posting. No notification is required. | There is no posting. No notification is required. |
| Transit | There is no posting. No notification is required. | There is no posting. No notification is required. | There is no posting. No notification is required. |
Explanation of the different types of transport
The Mobility Directive distinguishes between the different types of transport.
This is transport between two points within the borders of one EU Member State, carried out by a transport company established in another EU Member State. Cabotage always involves posting. Cabotage is permitted on a limited basis. Cabotage in and through non-EU countries is prohibited.
Example: A driver is employed by a transport company established in Germany. He loads a consignment of goods in Groningen following international transportation from Germany to the Netherlands. He unloads this cargo in Breda. This journey takes place entirely within the Netherlands.
This is transport between two EU Member States, but carried out by a transport company that is not established in either of those two Member States.
Example: A driver employed by a transport company established in Czechia is transporting a consignment of goods from France to Venlo in the Netherlands. The driver is posted for the part of the journey that he drives in the Netherlands. For that part of the journey, he is entitled to certain Dutch working conditions, such as a statutory or collectively agreed wage.
This is transport between the country in which the transport company is established, and another EU Member State. This way, the driver loads goods in the country of establishment and unloads them in the destination country, and vice versa.
Example: A driver employed by a French transport company loads goods in France and unloads them in the Netherlands. He them loads some goods in the Netherlands and drives back to France, where he unloads them.
In the case of bilateral transport, one or more extra loading and unloading activities are permitted during the journey. This exemption means that there is no posting, and you do not need to submit a notification. See below for the two situations in which an exemption applies.
Exemptions
Situation 1
A driver carries out a bilateral journey from the country in which his transport company is established, to the Netherlands. On the outward journey, he may load and/or unload goods once on his way to the Netherlands, in the countries he passes through. He may do this again no more than once on the return journey. The condition is that the goods are not loaded and unloaded in the same country.
Example: A French driver loads in France and unloads in the Netherlands. On the outward journey to the Netherlands, he also picks up a few pallets in Luxembourg and unloads them in Belgium. On the return journey from the Netherlands to France, he picks up some pallets in Belgium and unloads them in France.
Situation 2
A driver carries out a bilateral journey from the country in which his transport company is established, to the Netherlands. On the outward journey, he neither loads nor unloads any goods in the countries he travels through. He may then load and/or unload twice on the return journey in the countries he travels through. Conversely, it is also possible to load and/or unload twice on the outward journey and not at all on the return journey. The condition is that the goods are not loaded and unloaded in the same country.
Example: A French driver loads in France and unloads in the Netherlands. On the outward journey to the Netherlands, he also picks up a pallet in Luxembourg and unloads it in Belgium. In Belgium, he takes another pallet, which he then unloads in the Netherlands, before driving on to his final destination in the Netherlands. On the return journey from the Netherlands to France, he is not allowed to load or unload any additional goods.
This is when an EU Member State or a third country is crossed without the driver loading or unloading. There is no posting in transit situations.