"The bulk of international road transport in the European Union (EU) is performed by hundreds of thousands of east European drivers, primarily Poles, Lithuanians and Romanians. The fact that they are cheaper than their colleagues from the west means that hauliers can operate at lower cost and with higher profits, but the drivers work in conditions that sometimes border on modern slavery. Under its ‘Mobility Package', the European Commission is trying to change the rules of the game to put an end to social dumping and the systematic exploitation of drivers. The reform is a major test for the EU, which will have to prove itself to businesses, the Member States and European workers, while having already been accused of merely remedying the driver shortage in the west at the expense of the east."

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