Background:

The Czech Ministry of Transport seeks to establish a fast-track admission procedure for third-country national lorry drivers due to a labour shortage in this field in the country. They wanted to determine if similar programs exist in other EMN Member countries and, if so, how they operate.

By means of this ad hoc query, the Czech Republic specifically asked other EMN Member countries (i) whether they experience a shortage of lorry drivers, (ii) whether they have a fast-track admission procedure for third-country national lorry drivers and (iii) how such procedures operate.

Respondents:

A total of 23 countries responded to this ad hoc query (including BE).

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• 17 out of 23 EMN Member countries confirmed a shortage of lorry drivers, while AT, CY, EL, LU, PT, and SE reported no shortage.
   
• 4 EMN Member countries which reported a shortage, have simplified their application processes (BE, PL, IT, LV). For example, PL exempted lorry driver positions from labour market tests. In BE, certain lorry drivers are listed as bottleneck professions, exempting them from labour market tests, although this doesn't necessarily expedite application processing.
   
• 3 EMN Member countries have fast-track admission procedures (DE, LT, SK). DE treats lorry drivers as skilled workers and has a special accelerated procedure for them. LT uses a quota system, while SK offers two fast-track options, one for a national visa and another for temporary residence for employment.

For further information, please read the summary and the compilation of answers attached above.