In her draft report published on Tuesday 12 September, MEP Henna Virkkunen (EPP, Finnish) backed many of the European Commission’s proposals to revise the rules on driving time and rest periods for drivers of occasional bus and coach services.
Presented by the Commission in May, this revision aims to adapt EU rules on breaks and rest periods for drivers to take better account of the nature of occasional bus and coach services, which have a different working rhythm to that of freight or regular passenger transport drivers. This proposal also aims to guarantee equal treatment for occasional passenger transport operations at national and international level.
In her explanatory statement, Ms Virkkunen supported the Commission’s proposal to allow drivers to postpone their weekly rest period by up to 12 days for national journeys, as is already the case for international journeys. “This alignment of the rules for national and international services is justified for the proper functioning of the single market and for streamlining enforcement and control”, she commented.
With regard to the daily rest period, the Commission has proposed authorising drivers to delay the start of their daily rest period by 1 hour where the total daily driving time for that day does not exceed 7 hours, or by 2 hours where the total daily driving time does not exceed 5 hours. The rapporteur is in favour of the possibility of postponing the start of the daily rest period by 1 hour in certain situations. “Occasional passenger transport services are characterised by longer distances driven at the beginning and the end of the tour, and by a shorter duration of driving time at the place where the touristic activities mostly take place”, she explained.
“The possibility of postponing the taking of the daily rest by 1 hour twice during the tour, without exceeding regulatory driving time and without reducing daily rest, would bring the rules closer to the actual needs of the passenger groups”, she added.
Finally, with regard to breaks, the current rules only allow drivers to divide the 45-minute break for 4.5 hours of driving into 15 minutes first and then 30 minutes. The MEP suggested an even more flexible revision than the Commission: allowing drivers to divide their compulsory break into two or three separate breaks, each at least 15 minutes apart, spread freely over the driving period. “The currently applicable rules on breaks are not often well aligned with the natural stops on occasional passenger trips”, she noted.
She will present her draft report to the Transport Committee on Monday 18 September.
To read the draft report, go to https://aeur.eu/f/8ka (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)