Brussels, 15/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - Despite opposition from Germany, on Friday 15 November, the EU Council of Ministers endorsed a compromise agreement reached in triAlogue in the summer over the review of the EU Regulation on tachographs, paving the way for digital devices (see EUROPE 10859) to be installed in lorries to measure drivers' working time and rest periods. By tackling fraud more effectively, the new rules should ensure fairer competition and road safety through strict application of upper limits on time at the wheel. The European Parliament is expected to give final approval to the new rules at a plenary towards the start of 2014.
The new rules require the installation of a new generation of smart tachographs using satellite technology to track heavy goods vehicles from 2017 onwards, or 2018 for international transport. The legislative changes exempt from the “spy-in-the-cab” requirement vehicles of less than 7.5 tonnes driven by non-professional drivers within a 100 km radius of their operational base, rather than 50 km as at present. Germany wanted a larger radius. (MD/transl.fl)