The Freight Transport Association (FTA) says the new French government’s decision to charge a €40 fee for every worker operating in France on a temporary basis and employed by a foreign company is a restrictive practice which will severely affect the ability of UK truck operators to work effectively in Europe.

French authorities intend to charge a fee of €40 per posted worker for companies providing services on French soil which are established outside France; a move which is set to come into force by 1 January, 2018 at the latest. The fee will be used to maintain a database that will handle all documents required by French authorities for posted workers – including drivers.

Pauline Bastidon, FTA’s Head of European Policy said, “In our sector, this new charge amounts to a restrictive tax on international transport carried out by foreign operators. The fee of €40 per driver is excessive and, simply put, is a protectionist measure designed to close the French transport market to any operator established outside of France. It will disproportionately increase the cost of operating in France and could have negative consequences for international transport to and from the country. Coming on top of already burdensome requirements, such as the need to have a permanent representative in France, the decision to implement an additional charge on the working of international operators is nothing more than a protectionist tax benefitting the domestic French market, and is one which our members wholeheartedly oppose.”

The French have not yet stated whether the charge will be per day, per week, per year or simply be a one-off fee per driver and crew. When asked by The Mover to clarify the situation Pauline Bastidon said, “At the moment, this is unclear. The way these types of rules work in France is that the ‘general framework’ is published first (decret), followed a few weeks later by the implementing rules (decret d’application), which contain all the practical details on how the rule is supposed to function. Until these implementing rules are published, all these points will remain unclear.”

Photo:  Pauline Bastidon