Brussels, 13/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - In an exchange of letters with the European Federation of Leasing Companies (Leaseurope), the European Commission confirmed on Monday 12 November that companies in charge of lorry rentals will not be obliged to activate tachygraphs for their “internal” journeys (journeys for vehicle maintenance, journeys between two location points, delivery of a lorry for embarkation, cleaning and refuelling, etc).
The Commission explains its position by the fact that such journeys will be outside the field of application for the regulation (EC) 561/2006 on the approximation of certain provisions in the social legislation on road transport. Adopted on 15 March 2006 in the package on the social chapter for the road transport sector, this regulation sets out the rules on rest time and conduct for bus and heavy duty vehicle drivers (EUROPE 9123), which are subject to on-board tachygraph controls. As explained by the Commission, quoted in a Leaseurope press release last Tuesday, this regulation only involves, “drivers in goods and passenger transport”. Drivers employed by lorry companies and who make an internal journey, will therefore not be subject to the new legislation and will not have to use the tachygraphs during these journeys. Tanguy van de Werve, the director general of Leaseurope, informed EUROPE that this interpretation by the Commission had delighted lease companies, who feared that the obligatory use of tachygraphs during internal journeys (generally those that are just a few kilometres and often conferred to non-professional drivers such as mechanics or students) would generate high and wasteful costs for the truck rental industry. In Germany alone the application of this legislation would lead to an additional expenditure of €8 million in the first year of its application and €5 million in consecutive years. The Federation also said that an interpretation that went against that of the Commission would be senseless in the context of Regulation 561/2006, which aimed to prevent abusive conditions for professional drivers. Although this interpretation by the Commission is not legally binding (only interpretations made by the European Court of Justice are), it will de facto clarify the field of application for the regulation, and harmonise its application. (A.By.)