Brussels, 15/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission adopted a proposal of regulation on "driving" and "rest" time for drivers of heavy vehicles. It will replace Regulation 3820 in force since 1985. The new regulation is essentially intended to simplify the legislation to give greater coherency to its application and to controls in Member States. It will, in fact, reduce the number of exceptions possible and provide for drivers who infringe rules in one Member State to be penalised in another. The new Regulation, which has been awaited for one year, will complete the directive on "working hours" of drivers (including activities other than driving, such as unloading), which is currently the subject of conciliation procedure between the Council and Parliament.
The proposal of regulation fixes daily rest time at 12 hours (as opposed to 11 hours in the current legislation). It does away with compensatory leave for reduced rest periods. It provides for the daily driving time not to exceed nine hours, this being extended to a maximum of ten hours, but no more than twice during the flexible week. A "flexible week" cannot exceed 144 hours. In all, the total combined driving time over two consecutive flexible weeks must not exceed 90 hours. We recall that the directive on working hours restricts the duration of work to 48 hours, this being increased to 60 hours on condition that the 48 hour average is respected for a four-month reference period.
The new Regulation limits dispensation for small vehicles, for vehicles used for short haulage (50 km) or for public interest reasons. It mainly abolishes the derogation granted hitherto for transport by public enterprises, such as gas, electricity and especially postal services. "The large increase in the private sector for the provision of services formerly provided by the public sector was one of the main factors of the review", writes the Commission in its communication. In practice, the suppression of this derogation should not make Deutsche Post very pleased, notes a specialist on the issue.
The Road Transport Union (IRU) for employers of the road sector, like the European Transport Federation (ETF), welcomes the simplification recommended by the Commission while opposing the driving time proposed. ETF Spokesperson Sabine Trier considers the "Commission is indeed proposing longer rest periods but has done away with the possibility of compensatory leave". In addition, "it is still possible to do up to 56 hours driving a week, which is far too much. Forty-five hours would be a reasonable time, as, if one counts the other professional activities of drivers other than driving, this can mean over 60 hours a week, which is incompatible with the directive on working hours", she said. Finally, according to the trade unions, the directive should not only apply to lorries and buses of over 3.5 tonnes as "more and more express deliveries in particular are being carried out by small vehicles, and this phenomenon will be on the rise with electronic commerce". The ETF Spokesperson stresses that, according to statistics published by the Belgian trade unions on the occasion of the Day of Action on Working Hours in Europe, on Monday, "accidents have increased 6.4% in Belgium for small commercial vehicles, while they are falling for the rest of the sector".
"The IRU is in favour of simplifying the regulation but not of major changes. The Commission has obviously gone too far", said the person responsible for social issues at the IRU, Wim Smolders. In his view, the Commission's proposal reduces the margins of flexibility needed for the profession, for example by imposing a weekly rest of 45 hours instead of 36 at present, "which will prevent a delivery person from ending work on Saturday at 18h00 to resume work on Monday at 6h00 for example". By abolishing "compensationary leave" for overtime worked, the regulation will impose irregular working rates from one day to the next "which drivers do not like", says Wim Smolders.
The question of working hours and working conditions of hauliers is at the centre of the meeting on Tuesday morning in Luxembourg between the president of the Transport Council, Isabelle Durant, and a delegation from the European Federation of Transport Workers. Under the slogan "Tiredness Kills", the trade unions organised an Action Day in Europe on Monday, mainly blocking the frontiers between France, on one hand, and Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain, on the other.