Strasbourg, 16/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Parliament adopted (first reading, codecision), the report by German national Helmuth Markov (GUE/NGL) on the proposal of regulation relating to harmonisation of certain social provisions in the field of road transport (405 in favour, 79 against and 60 abstentions). The Parliament adopted a series of amendments aimed, among other things, at strengthening controls, establishing sanctions in the case of infringement, and reducing possible exemptions. It rejected two amendments (one by British Conservative Philip Bradbourn and the other by the Liberal Group) calling for the Commission's proposal to be rejected. Mr Bradbourn considers this proposal interferes with national sovereignty and that the United Kingdom is opposed to the over-strict legislation.
The Commission proposal, which amends the existing regulation on the matter, mainly provides for: - a continuous twelve-hour rest period; - a weekly driving time of 56 hours, or 90 hours for two weeks; - abolition of the provisions relating to the minimum age of drivers; - seizure in the case of vehicles in the event of breach of the regulation; - and modification of exemptions for certain vehicles.
The main amendments made by the Parliament: (1) do away with the term "flexible week" to replace it with the term "week", which begins on a Monday at 9h00 and comes to an end on Sunday at 24h; (2) reintroduce a minimum age for drivers (from 18 to 21 depending on the kind of vehicle); (3) make the introduction of a digital tachograph compulsory in all vehicles at the latest 36 months after publication of the regulation in the Official Journal (OJ); (4) improve and increase controls (six months after adoption of the regulation in the Official Journal, the number of days controlled being increased from 1 to 2%, of which 1% is on the site of the company, and goes back over the 27 previous days; and (5) apply the regulation to vehicles used for parcel and express delivery services as well as to vehicles registered in a third country, which is not a signatory of the AETR, when they make a journey within the Community. On the other hand, vehicles used for collecting milk in farms is excluded. Furthermore, derogation is allowed in the case of provision of services to citizens (cultural demonstrations, banks). The Parliament also calls upon Member States to establish a common scale for sanctions and calls for rest time to be taken in two periods (one of three hours and the other of nine hours). It also calls for an increase in company responsibility, making it compulsory to register the driving/working time of drivers. On the other hand, the Parliament rejected all amendments aimed at reducing the weekly driving time and the driving time over two weeks.
During the debate, rapporteur Mr Markov had pointed out that the regulation was only acceptable under the following conditions: - return to a calendar week, the application of express delivery services, the implementation of sanctions, the reduction of derogation to the regulation and the reduction of driving hours. Speaking on behalf of the EPP-ED, Belgian Mathieu Grosch hoped for more monitoring on Community territory. He also asked for the regulation to be applied to third countries. German national Wilhelm Piecyk said, on behalf of the PES, that all vehicles should be equipped with a digital tachograph. Samuli Pohjano, from Finland, who was speaking on behalf of the ELDR, said the report was, on the contrary, badly drafted and unacceptable for his group. He criticised the over-rigid rules and over-high costs for the sector and added that application of the existing regulation should be monitored rather than have new regulations adopted. Such a position shocked Danish member Freddy Blak, who, on behalf of the GUE/NGL, reproached the Liberals with seeing more the financial aspect than the number of deaths on the road. On behalf of the Greens/EFA, Claude Turmes, from Luxembourg, had called for reduction of the driving time as well as systematic controls and the introduction of a digital tachometer. After the debate, Loyola de Palacio, Commissioner for Transport, recalled that this proposal was not a social policy proposal but a road safety proposal. As far as the amendments were concerned, she said she could accept those aimed at: - making the text more specific, increasing the number of controls except those entailing too many administrative costs, and applying the text to third countries and to express delivery.