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Brussels - The EU is preparing to call Berlin to account over a new law that has angered Poland by stating that foreign truck drivers must be paid the German minimum wage for any hours they spend driving across Germany, an EU source said.
European Union (EU) officials believe Germany is breaking EU law by applying the regulation to foreign workers in transit, the source said. But a formal approach to Berlin has yet to be made.
A national German minimum of €8.50 an hour came into force this month. That is higher than many earn in a Polish trucking industry which has taken advantage of low costs to take a big share of the trans-European road freight business. Foreign firms are also irked by the prospect of having to register drivers' employment details with German authorities.
A spokesperson for the European Commission, the EU's executive, said that Germany's minimum wage was in line with the bloc's employment policies but that the Commission had received complaints about it from Poland and Hungary relating to the transport sector.
The spokesperson declined to comment on what action the EU would take. The source said the first step would be for Brussels to inform Berlin that it was opening a "structured dialogue". If that failed to produce agreement, Germany could be pursued for breaching the EU treaty, leading to a possible court case.
In Germany, the EU's largest economy, a spokesperson for the labour ministry said the government was ready to provide any information to EU officials, adding: "We are convinced that the law is compatible with current EU legislation."
The ministry says that for every hour any employee is working within German borders, they must be paid Germany's minimum wage, whether or not the worker or the employer is based in Germany. Foreign truckers must provide proof of their earnings.
