Attempts to protect the internal market for road transport in specific European Union countries

The seven-year period to adapt internal law to EU regulations was given to new Member States on 1 May 2004 and ended in 2011. The highly-developed western states, fearing that their internal markets in fields such as transport services may be threatened, adopted a number of new regulations. Regulation (EC) No. 1072/2009 of the European Parliament is on common rules for access to the international road-haulage market, and despite introducing numerous restrictions, was to regulate cabotage operations in all Member States. However, the protection of each State’s own interests proved more important than the integrity of the Community and therefore some of the states, including Germany, have introduced severe limitations for foreign carriers, forcing them to observe the Minimum Wage Act (MiLoG).