Belgian road-transport operators received welcome news on 8 May when details emerged of a social-security coordination deal that drops a plan to force hauliers to notify authorities every time a driver worked in more than one EU member state. Under earlier drafts, fleets operating out of the port of Antwerp or the Brussels logistics belt would have had to file real-time declarations for thousands of daily cross-border legs. The final compromise, approved by the European Parliament’s EMPL committee on 7 May, leaves existing A1 certificate rules in place but imposes a 35-working-day deadline on national bodies to confirm or contest which social-security system applies. The determination will be based on a driver’s forecast work pattern for the next 12 months and can stay valid for up to 24 months, giving planners a more predictable cost base. Verification procedures for A1 documents will be tightened, and automated data exchange between Belgium’s ONSS/RSZ and its EU peers is to be expanded. Industry association Febetra said the climb-down on advance notifications “removes a time-bomb of administrative complexity” just as hauliers grapple with tachograph upgrades and zero-emission fleet investment. However, experts caution that the new social-security rules do **not** alter Posting-of-Drivers obligations, so Belgian carriers must still submit IMI postings for cabotage legs in France, Germany or the Netherlands. HR and mobility teams in the transport sector should prepare updated SOPs once the full regulation is published, ensuring that assignment letters, pay-slips and contribution records align with the forthcoming 35-day dispute window.
Source: Trans.info
