Brussels, 01/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Romanian MEP Silvia Adriana Ticau (S&D) backs combining driving licences and driver qualification cards to reduce tachograph fraud, and the idea could find favour with her colleagues on the European Parliament transport and tourism committee (TRAN). Ticau presented her draft report on the review of tachograph legislation on Wednesday 29 February. Tachographs record the time drivers spend at the wheel of their vehicles and at rest. She believes that, from a technical point of view, nothing prevents these two documents being merged into one single smart card. In her draft report, however, she calls on the European Commission to draft a legislative proposal with clear guidance on combining the two documents, and stresses that an impact assessment study must be carried out beforehand to assess the costs of such a move, so that member states do not put the brakes on this proposal. A partial agreement on the review of tachograph rules was reached in the Transport Council but EU ministers elected to leave the issue of merging driver cards and driving licences pending, as some member states opposed such a step (Belgium, Sweden and the United Kingdom). Among MEPs, however, few objections were raised when Ticau presented her draft report. The exceptions were Mathieu Grosch (EPP, Belgium) and Jacqueline Foster (ECR, UK). The European Data Protection Controller, however, earlier this year expressed concerns over merging the two documents and the impact this could have on privacy and safety. (MD/transl.rt)