COMMISSION OPINION of 21 October 1977 addressed to the Danish Government on the Order of the Minister of Labour of 27 August 1976 implementing Council Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 of 25 March 1969 on the harmonization of certain social legislation relating to road transport, with a view to protecting workers engaged in internal road transport operations (77/674/EEC)

1. Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 stipulates that Member States shall, in due time and after consulting the Commission, adopt such laws, regulations or administrative provisions as may be necessary for the implementation thereof.

The Commission notes with regret that it was not until 20 January 1977 that the Danish Government by letter from the Office of its Permanent Representative consulted it on an Order made as long ago as 27 August 1976 by the Minister of Labour, applying Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 to internal road transport in Denmark.

2. The Commission would draw the attention of the Danish Government to the fact that the Community rules on the harmonization of social legislation relating to road transport specifically prescribe a model individual control book (Annex to Council Regulation (EEC) No 514/72 of 28 February 1972). Consequently, approval of this model by the Labour Inspection Directorate, for which provision is made in Article 2 (1) of the Order of the Minister of Labour, is not necessary and would even be contrary to the Community Regulation.

The Commission therefore considers that the Order should be amended accordingly.

3. The Commission has been unable to establish whether the provisions of Article 3 of the Danish Ministerial Order permit checks to be carried out on the road. The Commission considers such checks to be essential for the enforcement of obligations arising from the Community rules. It requests the Danish Government to make the relevant additional control arrangements if necessary.

4. The Commission reminds the Danish Government that Article 5 (7) of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 allows the minimum age for drivers' mates to be reduced to 16 years for internal transport operations carried out within a radius of 50 kilometres, on condition that this is for purposes of vocational training and subject to the limits imposed by internal law on employment matters.

However, Article 4 (1) of the Danish Order fixes the minimum age for drivers' mates at 16 years without any restriction. The Commission considers that this provision should be supplemented along the lines referred to in the previous subparagraph.

5. The Commission considers it self-evident that the conditions set out in Article 4 (2) concerning exceptions to the requirement to make entries in the individual control book are cumultative.

6. Article 5 of the Danish Order concerns penalties for infringements.

The Commission considers that penalties in the form of fines alone seem unlikely to guarantee proper compliance with the Community rules. To be effective they should be backed by other penalties such as withdrawal of operating or driving licences.

7. Lastly, the Danish Order makes no provision for offsetting exceptions to the duration of the rest period, as provided for in Article 11 (6) of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69. The Commission requests the Danish Government to supplement the Order accordingly.

8. The Commission would therefore request the Danish Government to amend the Order of the Minister of Labour of 27 August 1976 in order to take into account the observations herein.

Done at Brussels, 21 October 1977.

For the Commission

Richard BURKE

Member of the Commission