Few new major changes are proposed by the Bulgarian Council of the European Union in a 2 March revised draft compromise seen by this newsletter for the Regulation on lorry driver rest and work times (561/2006) and use of tachygraphs (165/2014), and significant disagreements seem to still be prevailing among national experts on the Council’s land transport working group.
Among the few amendments suggested on the previous compromise (see EUROPE 11951), the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council recommends that lorry drivers be allowed to spend their regular weekly rest period in the lorry’s cabin, as long at the lorry has a ‘dedicated zone’ with specific infrastructure (listed in an annex). It would be for the European Commission to set the minimum standards in execution acts for health, safety, security and service for such dedicated zones. The compromise suggests that lorry drivers should be able to overshoot by four hours the daily driving or weekly period in order to reach the ‘employer's operational centre or the driver's place of residence’ rather than the driver’s ‘home’ as specified in the first draft compromise.
The other proposals have not changed. The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council is keeping its recommendation of making the installation of a smart tachygraph compulsory for all motor vehicles on 31 December 2028, to make a reduced weekly rest period possible (24 hours) over two weeks of work and returning to the driver’s place of residence once every six weeks.
A diplomatic source told this newsletter that the member states’ negotiating positions were still in strong disagreement between Western countries on the one side and Central, Eastern and peripheral member states on the other. Resting in the cabin is still a sensitive issue, as is the maximum working time over a four-week period. The various points of disagreement are clearly connected with other proposals in the first mobility package (see EUROPE 11799), including the social aspects that are also being discussed at the Council (see EUROPE 11977) and European Parliament (see EUROPE 11985).
The Council aims to reach a general approach by 7 June for the Transport Council. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)