🇪🇺🚛🇮🇳🇵🇰🇧🇩 The EU is moving toward opening up the internal market for non-European truck drivers.

They are expected to be recruited mainly from Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Morocco, Tunisia and Kenya.

The European Commission is now planning to simplify procedures as well as establishing common rules to protect drivers from abuse and ensure fair working conditions for non-European drivers.

Until now, recruiting drivers from outside the Union has been the domain of private companies and individual Member States.

This process, often complex and time-consuming, varies from country to country.

The European Commission argues that a uniform legal frameworks will effectively combat the shortage of professional drivers in Europe by sourcing them from third countries.

At the request of the European Commission, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) has prepared a comprehensive report analyzing all aspects of employing drivers from outside Europe.

The report emphasizes the need to accelerate visa processes and the recognition of professional qualifications obtained outside the EU.

According to experts, only through such measures can Europe realistically fill around 500 000 vacancies in the EU’s transport sector.

One of the most important projects aimed at helping implement these assumptions is SDM4EU (Skilled Driver Mobility for Europe).

As part of SDM4EU, procedures are currently being developed to enable the legal and rapid employment of drivers in EU Member States.

Pilot projects are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026.

🔗 Visegrad24