Brussels, 15/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 14 May, the European Parliament and Council managed to reach an informal agreement, under the auspices of the Irish presidency on the “smart” version of the digital tachograph. Revision of EC regulations 3821/85 and 561/2006 aim to tackle the fraudulent use of these devices which measure heavy duty vehicles drivers' working and rest times. As explained by rapporteur Silvia Ticau (S&D, Romania), “the entire regulation improves the enforcement. The new function of the smart tachograph helps to strengthen the enforcement, all this will have an impact on social legislative and of course having a better enforcement, we can reduce social dumping”.
At this stage, the informal agreement initially plans to tighten up controls by training inspectors and providing them with better equipment. Drivers are also expected to benefit from training on the use of this device. Temporary cards for non-resident drivers will also be granted for a year and a half, in an effort to control the employment of non-resident drivers on low salaries, a move that the Parliament strongly supports. The Parliament and the Council also finally reached an agreement on tachograph exemptions for nonprofessional drivers of heavy goods vehicles of less than 7.5 tonnes who work within 100 km radius of the location of the company's headquarters (as opposed to the current 50 km). Some countries, with Germany at their head, would have liked a 150 km radius exemption. The Council would not meet this demand, in an effort to keep the smaller countries on board.
The agreement also focuses on equipping all new heavy-duty vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes with new generation smart digital tachographs from around 2018 (three years after the definition of the technical characteristics by the Commission). Old lorries used in cross-border transport will have 15 years to ensure they are equipped with this device. The smart tachograph will include a geo-localisation system and will therefore automatically register speed, distance travelled, location, and driving time and will be able to be remotely controlled. The Parliament insisted that member states provide themselves with remote control devices for the exclusive targeting of suspect vehicles (saving time and money). Nonetheless, data protection is ensured, and automatic fines cannot be made on this basis. The informal agreement does not mention the merger of the driving licence and driving card but the Commission is likely to carry out an impact study on the subject. The informal agreement is expected to be approved by the Council and the Parliament (in a committee meeting on 30 May and during the plenary, which should ideally be in June). (MD/transl.fl)