Transport, 33 per cent of workers in the sector are linked to non-EU companies: Eurostat data

Brussels – In 2023, the number of European Union workers employed in transport and storage companies controlled by multinational groups based in another country reached 1.3 million. This was revealed by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, in an article published today (24 February). These figures represent a 30 per cent increase compared to 2018, when the number of workers employed by foreign companies was around 982,000. Of these 1.3 million employees—equal to 12 per cent of the total number of workers in the sector—about two-thirds (858,000 people) worked for companies controlled by multinationals based in other EU countries or belonging to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The remaining 33 per cent (418,000 people) were employed by companies owned by non-EU or non-EFTA companies. 

In terms of “micro-sectors”, the absolute figures from the European statistics institute show that the field of transport support activities is first in the ranking, with 656,000 workers employed by companies controlled by foreign multinationals, followed by road freight transport (210,000) and postal and courier services (138,000). Even when looking at the percentage data, support activities remain at the top of the ranking, accounting for 25.3 per cent of the total. Close behind are sea transport (25 per cent) and air transport (20.8 per cent). 

There are significant differences between countries. In absolute terms, in 2023, Germany was the EU country with the highest employment in transport companies controlled by foreign groups (191,000 out of a total of 2,300,000 workers). It was followed by Poland (167,000 employees out of 958,000), which “suffers” from competition from non-EU countries on its eastern flank, and Spain (126,000 workers out of 1,019,000). At the bottom of the ranking, the Member States with the lowest level of “penetration” by non-European companies were Malta (4,000 employees out of a total of 18,000), Estonia (5,000 out of 37,000) and Cyprus (5,000 out of 22,000). 

The rankings vary significantly when using the percentage criterion. In this case, in 2023, the top three were Sweden (37.5 per cent), Luxembourg (33.4 per cent) and the Netherlands (25.9 per cent). The lowest shares were recorded in France (5.9 per cent), Lithuania (6.4 per cent) and Greece (6.7 per cent). In both rankings, Italy occupied a middle position with 120,000 workers employed by foreign multinationals out of a total of 1,186,000, representing 10.1 per cent.

 Finally, the last relevant figure concerns the countries of origin of the main multinationals operating in the EU transport and storage sector. Limited to EU countries, most employees working for foreign companies are employed by German companies (232,000 workers employed by German companies in other European countries), French companies (176,000), and Dutch companies (72,000). As for non-EU or non-EFTA countries, the United States leads the way (244,000 employees), followed by the United Kingdom (65,000) and Japan (19,000). 

The data released today by Eurostat relates to an issue that European institutions have been focusing on for some time in recent years: that of transport companies operating within the EU but formally registered outside the EU (often in Eastern European countries such as Ukraine and Belarus) and, for this reason, subject to less stringent regulations than those in Brussels regarding compliance with certain working standards for their employees. In 2020, after lengthy negotiations, the EU approved the
Mobility Package, whose main objective is to ensure fairer conditions for all workers and employers in the transport sector.