Strasbourg, 21/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the report by Mathieu Grosch (Belgium, EPP-ED) on Thursday on the draft directive relating to the training of professional road goods or passenger drivers , the European Parliament approved the technical amendments adopted in the Committee on Regioal Policy, transport and Tourism in November.
The EU's current legislation only provides for in a very limited number of cases the obligation of professional training. Regarding the transport of goods: for professional drivers under the age of 21 wanting to drive vehicles of over 7.5 tonnes. And regarding passenger transport: a certificate of professional aptitude is compulsory, except if the driver has professional experience of a year on vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes regarding regular services or passenger transport in vehicles with a capacity limited to 17 people at most.
The working conditions of professional road drivers continue raise serious problems as they have direct effects economically and on safety. Social dumping indeed leads to market distortions. This unfair competition leads inexorably to the rules over driving and rest times being circumvented, as well as working conditions, and plays with the safety of the drivers themselves and other users.
Thus, the introduction of a professional aptitude certificate is the first important step towards a solution to these problems, but does not suffice. The proposal that the Commission made represents an additional effort at subjecting professional drivers to uniform rules for working conditions. It essentially pursues the goal of enhancing safety of transport by road, strengthening the social protection of professional drivers and reducing environmental harm (by diminishing consumption through rational conduct). Given the current economic climate, that imposes on professional road drivers increasingly stringent demands, the idea is that the type of training meets certain conditions of quality and requires a successful result in an examination. Such a guarantee will benefit both workers and employers and the safety on the roads will be enhanced through it.
Although the European Parliament welcomed this proposal, it adopted a certain number of technical amendments. The latter concern the passing of an examination of professional skill, the structure and duration of the continuous training during working hours (they must, notably, concern initiation to rational driving, the knowledge of regulations, issues of safety and logistics, etc.), the explicit extension of the implementation of the directive to drivers from third countries working legally in a company established in a Member State, as well as the content of the directive's annexes, which have been substantially strengthened.