Brussels, 30/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The political agreement on the revision of the tachograph, the device used to verify driving and rest time installed in heavy goods vehicles, was reached by the Transport Ministers of the EU at the Council held in Luxembourg on Monday 29 October. The agreement is not satisfactory to the Commission, or to Germany, which is at odds over the issue, arguing once again in favour of more extensive exemptions. This agreement confirms the general orientation reached earlier, subject to a few changes along the lines of the amendments already adopted by the European Parliament. This latest stage should make it possible to reach a second-reading agreement between the institutions before the end of the Cypriot Presidency.
Whilst fraud and social dumping are growing problems in road transport, the transition from manual to digital tachographs should help to combat these. The Council recommends that the digital version should enter into force in 2017 or 2018, which the Commission disagrees with. “The introduction is too late”, the Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, stressed during the debate. The Council wants exemptions for certain users operating on journeys within a range of 100 km. Germany argued for small and medium-sized companies to be exempt from this up to a range of 150 km, but Berlin failed to win this point. Additionally, the Council does not recommend the merger of the “driver card” with the driving licence, something the Commission also laments: “the Council removed the merger option, without offering any alternative solution”, Siim Kallas said. Overall, he feels that “the agreement does not offer sufficient guarantees against fraud and abuse of the tachograph”. The Commission is, however, pleased that the Council has opted to impose the tachograph requirement on vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, which was specifically defended by Italy, Germany, France and Bulgaria. Lastly, the agreement also lays down guarantees on data protection and the use of interfaces compatible with smart transport systems. (MD/transl.fl)