Brussels, 04/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - Road freight operators have drawn the attention of MEPs to weaknesses in the current version of the text on tachographs, the black box which records drivers' driving and rest times. Last week, the European Parliament (EP) transport committee adopted the draft report by Silviana Adriana Ticau (S&D, Romania) (see EUROPE 10624). The organisations representing the road haulage sector find fault with it, however. They hope that the plenary session will be able to correct matters when it comes to the formal vote in July.
The International Road Transport Union (IRU) regrets that the text as it currently stands calls for the retro-fitting of digital tachographs on all vehicles. “Such a move is neither technically feasible for all vehicles, nor justified. No financial costings or an impact assessment has been undertaken. The IRU therefore calls on the European Parliament to reject this aspect of the amendments at its July plenary session”, the IRU says in a press release. The European Road Hauliers Association (UETR) is unhappy, too, about the definition of daily working time. The UETR takes the view that the definition is based simply on old case law and infringes the definition contained in a legal act, the Directive 2002/15/EC, which explicitly states that breaks and resting times are not considered working time. A further point with which the UETR takes issue is that the current text contains no trace of shared liability between companies, sub-contractors and driver employment agencies. It is, the UETP says, “a missed opportunity to ensure road safety at EU level on the whole supply chain, and the idea of road safety and social protection 'à la carte' is not acceptable”. The amendments put down before the plenary session will show whether the hauliers' arguments have swung opinion among MEPs. (MD/transl.rt)