(L-R) Jos Sales, Luxembourg; Marc Dysli, Switzerland; Paul Blachnik, Austria; Martin Horvath, Austria; Jean Clement, Luxembourg; Christiane Leonard, Germany; Karl Hülsmann, Germany; Hendrik Kühne, Luxembourg;
Credit: Luxembourg Confederation Press
On Tuesday 20 August 2024, the Luxembourg Confederation Press announced that the top representatives of the bus associations from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Grand Duchy emphasised their unity at their annual meeting.
At the so-called DACHL meeting (an acronym for the group of countries Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein), the presidents and managing directors of bus associations from Germany (bdo), Austria (WKO, Fachverband Bus), Switzerland (ASTAG/Car Tourisme Suisse) and Luxembourg (FLEAA) come together once a year for a working meeting. The venue changes between the participating countries.
Their common goal for this year’s meeting was to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and improve the framework conditions for a more travel-friendly Europe.
The bus associations from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg met again on 16 August for their annual working meeting. This time, the venue was Luxembourg, where current initiatives from the EU Commission and the newly elected EU Parliament were on the agenda. In this regard, the association representatives unanimously emphasised that the bus industry’s interests and peculiarities are currently not sufficiently taken into account.
Although there have been “significant improvements” in driving and rest times for passenger transport, sensible implementation often fails due to excessive bureaucracy and inconsistent control practices in the member states. The various associations noted that it makes no sense to tighten the requirement to carry the "green logbook" to differentiate between scheduled and occasional services when digital control devices already track border crossings. Because it leads to enormous additional bureaucracy in companies, the associations are calling for the abolition of the "green logbook" and a Europe-wide standardisation of control practices.
In the direction of the newly elected EU Parliament, the associations have reiterated their call for a reduction in bureaucracy, also with regard to the upcoming negotiations on the package travel directive. Liability rules must no longer be one-sided to the detriment of companies, they emphasised. A sensible balance must be established here between consumer protection and company rights, otherwise the package tour will be "undermined" and this is above all bad for customers, the various associations stressed.
This year's DACHL exchange has once again shown the importance in the active representation of the bus companies’ interests of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg in Brussels and Strasbourg, the presidents and managing directors of the associations unanimously declared. They also stressed the importance of their “very good joint cooperation” with the international associations under the umbrella of the International Road Transport Union (IRU). The challenges of the future do not stop at national borders, but require the best possible networking and constant cooperation among the sister associations in the member states, they added. The IRU is of central importance for the international bus industry in this regard, the associations concluded.
