On 17 October 2025, extensive concerted and joint inspections took place along the German-Dutch-Belgian border, bringing together around 400 officers from the three countries. The main focus of this coordinated action were working conditions in road transport and road safety. The inspections were supported by the European Labour Authority (ELA).
The action took place in the three-country Euregio Meuse-Rhine region, mainly on the Lichtenbusch border crossing and in around 15 additional locations close to the borders.
In total, 1,987 vehicles and 1,517 people were checked resulting in 953 suspected infringements, amongst others of driving and resting time rules applicable to professional drivers. These strict EU-wide rules aim at protecting workers’ rights, as well as road safety by preventing tiredness of truck drivers.
Dutch and German authorities jointly identified a case commonly encountered in cross-border inspections. It seems that the driver was employed in a Member State with lower wages, remuneration, and social security contributions, despite not having performed any work in that State and operating exclusively between Germany and the Netherlands in recent years. Such practices undermine workers’ rights, distort fair competition among companies, and result in tax and social security evasion. In addition, the authorities discovered multiple infringements of working and resting time regulations by the same truck driver.
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