25/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - At the Thursday 24 June Transport Council, the European Commission announced that it is withdrawing the draft directive on lorry drivers' working time following rejection of it by the European Parliament and persistent disagreement between MEPs and the member states (the draft legislation would have excluded self-employed drivers from current working time legislation, see EUROPE 10161). In March 2009, the Transport Council called for self-employed drivers to be exempt from the directive, with reservations expressed by Germany, Greece and Austria. It is currently Austria and France that are particularly keen on having the directive withdrawn and the current system kept in place. France is delighted with the EP's vote, explained Dominique Busserau, the French transport minister, pointing out that for safety reasons and common sense, there couldn't be two different categories of driver. Taking a different view, the UK and other countries (Finland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany) have asked the Commission to prepare new legislation to exempt the self-employed. (A.By./transl.fl)