Brussels, 29/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 29 September, the European Commission requested Italy to take the necessary measures to introduce a risk-rating system for road transport undertakings. The deadline for implementing such measures was 1 April 2007. The Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to Italy and, if Italy does not inform the Commission within two months of measures taken to ensure respect of EU law in this field, the Commission may take the matter before the European Union Court of Justice.
Directive 2006/22/EC sets out requirements for the enforcement of the driving times, breaks and rest periods for professional drivers (also called social rules), as well as provisions on recording equipment (the tachograph). In order to ensure more efficient compliance checks, each member state must set in place a risk-rating system based on the relative number and the severity of infringements committed by an individual undertaking against the social rules and the rules on the use of the tachograph. The aim of the risk-rating system is to promote targeted checks on undertakings with a poor record of compliance.
“Failing to comply with the obligation to establish a risk-rating system prevents targeted checks of those road transport undertakings that regularly infringe the social rules”, the Commission explains. It goes on to conclude that “this poses a risk to fair competition, to road safety and to the maintenance of adequate working conditions in the road transport industry”. (LC/transl.jl)