Brussels, 09/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - The compromise reached in trialogue (European Commission, the European Parliament, Council) over the road package (see EUROPE 9431) appears close at hand, but an agreement negotiated at international level on the "12 days rule", which would allow coach drivers to bring their weekly rest time to a maximum of 12 days (compared to six at the moment) as long as this extension is limited to a single trip, risks drawing out negotiations on other provisions of the dossier, such as cabotage (allowing the operator to carry out their loading or unloading operations in the country other than its own) and the creation of national electronic registers to hold information on transport companies authorised to operate in the country in question. The next meeting of the trialogue is scheduled for 24 March.
The package, which was presented by the Commission with a view to harmonising the rules of access to the profession and to the road transport market, aims to resolve the issues of cabotage and rest time for bus and coach drivers. An agreement negotiated by the social partners and supported by the European Parliament, in May 2008 (see EUROPE 9666), pleads in favour of the reintroduction of the derogation, which was removed by new European legislation, allowing the weekly rest time of the coach driver during international trips to stand at 12 days maximum. At the same time, last October, on the basis of a Russian initiative, the European Commission negotiated within the United Nations on the reintroduction of a similar derogation, but limited to one trip (single trip restriction). The carrier may no longer cumulate a trip of, say, seven days with a given group with another trip of five days with another group, but would be obliged to take an obligatory four-day rest once he or she has exceeded a maximum of six days of work. However, according to the International Road Transport Union (IRU), which has already opposed removing the 12-day derogation, there is nothing to justify this kind of limit. More than 61% of coach trips exceed the six-day period and the single trip restriction would work out more expensive than the application of the existing legislation, thus rendering the whole derogation pointless. For a trip of seven days, the cost for the operators would rise by around 15% (5% for a 9-day trip and 1.5% for a 10-day trip). The cost would not become relevant until the 11th day of the trip onwards, argues the IRU. In order to avoid the disparity of systems in Europe and at international level, the Commission and most of the Member States would, however, be prepared to accept the reintroduction of the 12-day rule thus limited. It would also be out of the question for the Council, which had found a compromise after some harsh discussions, to give in over the question of cabotage limited to three consecutive operations within seven days, including the return trip (see EUROPE 9682). In return, the transposition of the entry into force of the regulation on cabotage could be speeded up to 20 days, from the publication of the text in the Official Journal, which would correspond with the wishes of the Parliament, which is in favour of full and gradual liberation of the land transport market in Europe. The dates and functioning details of the national registers have still to be decided upon, as have certain technical issues in the dossier. The next trialogue meeting will be held on 24 March. (A.By./trans.fl)