Strasbourg, 18/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption in second reading of the Hatzidakis report (EPP-Ed, Greece) on maximum weights and dimensions of buses and the Van Dam report (EDD, Netherlands) on the establishment of a drivers' attestation, the European Parliament approved the common positions as finalised by the Council on these provisions.
The recommendations made by Konstantinos Hatzidakis cover a proposal of directive relating to the maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic and on the maximum weights authorised in international traffic, a text whose essential aim is to harmonise the maximum length of non-articulated and articulated buses carrying passengers throughout the EU. This question is not settled at the present time as there is only the guarantee that rigid buses of 12m in length at most and articulated 18 m buses may circulate freely in the Union. At national level, there are four different maximum lengths for non-articulated buses, so that some vehicles of this kind are not suitable for being used throughout the EU. MEPs adopted the Council common position without amendment, in so far as they felt that it establishes a correct balance between the internal market, regulation and technical and commercial considerations concerning safety. At first reading, the EP hoped to defer the date when the Member States may authorise on their territory the circulation of buses whose dimensions do not correspond to the requirements of the new directive. This date had been put off till 2015. The Council, however, pushed it even further on till 2020, an amendment accepted by the Parliament. At first reading, the Assembly also proposed bringing the length of articulated buses into line with that of buses with trailer (18.75m). The amendment was taken up in the Council common position.
The proposal of directive relating to the establishment of a drivers' attestation, the object of the Van Dam report, to allow national authorities to effectively control the legal status of the work relation between EU employers and their drivers carrying out international goods transport. The EU plans to resolve with this attestation the problems engendered by third country drivers employed by Community companies. Some of them employ drivers illegally, and the employment conditions that they impose are often mediocre, which entails situations of insecurity and competition distortion. Contrary to the Parliament, the Council proposes restricting the scope of the regulation to third country nationals and only envisaging an extension of the scope to EU nationals after entry into force of the regulation. Furthermore, the Council does not intend to give its stance immediately on the future extension of the scope of the regulation. The Council hopes to make the regulation applicable one year after its entry into force, given the time needed for preparation. It proposes, moreover, that a stricter monitoring procedure should be set in place to control the attestations delivered in the Member States, and provides to make it compulsory for all drivers from third countries to be in possession of a drivers' attestation for carrying out cabotage transport. Although the Council only partially approved the amendments adopted by the EP in first reading, the latter accepted the common position considering that its differences with the Council only concern the timetable and not the substance.