Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport"

(COM(2001) 573 final - 2001/0241 (COD))

(2002/C 221/06)

On 24 October 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 71 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 30 April 2002. The rapporteur was Mr García Alonso.

At its 391st plenary session on 29 and 30 May 2002 (meeting of 29 May) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 94 votes to 1, with 3 abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The need to update Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 follows the amendment of Directive 93/104/EC (the Working Time Directive) by Directive 2000/34/EC, which lays down the minimum requirements applicable to mobile workers in the road transport sector. One reason is that the rules on working time set out in the aforementioned directive and the rules on driving time set out in the regulation are directly connected, and the provisions of both on common matters must therefore correspond.

1.2. It is thus important to acknowledge and thank the Commission for its efforts in adopting this proposal for amendment, the main objectives of which - harmonisation of the conditions for competition, improvement in working conditions and in road safety - the Committee fully supports.

1.3. The Committee considers, nonetheless, that the proposal could be improved in certain respects: in terms of wording, to clarify certain concepts, and to a lesser extent in terms of content, to facilitate implementation and compliance and improve road safety in a sector which, it must be remembered, provides a service of general interest. This factor often has a decisive influence on the decisions of businesspeople, and thus on the interests of workers, vis-à-vis the quality services requested by customers.

1.4. The European Economic and Social Committee's final proposal seeks to strike an appropriate and reasonable balance in a sector where the rules must allow for a certain degree of flexibility and acceptable social conditions are required. This will facilitate effective and uniform implementation of the regulation, which must also be tailored to the continuing changes in the sector and encourage good practice.

2. Introductory comments

2.1. The Committee welcomes the proposed amendment of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85, designed to facilitate harmonisation of various aspects of social legislation on driving time, breaks and rest periods upon introduction of the digital tachograph. However, it would draw attention to the continuing difficulties with regard to adoption at Community level of the digital tachograph technical annex, and the corresponding lack of knowledge regarding the technical requirements of the new equipment, which have to some degree influenced amendment of the current Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85.

2.2. While the road transport sector has certainly undergone significant changes in the seventeen years since Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 was adopted, it is important to stress that many of the changes in the sector have benefited the driving profession. Vehicles are more technically advanced and road infrastructure is better, which has improved drivers' working lives. But there are also problems, such as those connected with traffic, congestion, stress and unfair competition, which must be overcome.

2.3. The EESC welcomes the new paragraphs in Article 10 on the responsibility of the employer of giving the driver the possibility to be able to follow the driving time rules. Article 10 now regulates the division of responsibilities between driver and employer in a clear way which is a noticeable improvement compared with the previous wording of this article.

2.4. The EESC also welcomes the new paragraph on responsibility for the total distance driven in a day even if this covers several Member States.

2.5. The EESC supports the creation of a special advisory committee on the implementation and control of this new amended regulation. If its work is connected to the meetings between the social partners in the road transport sector this will create possibilities for a good implementation and interpretation of the regulation.

2.6. Some difficulties in interpretation have highlighted the question of driving time for drivers excluded from the scope of the proposal, e.g. those providing passenger services whose route does not exceed 50 km, but who also provide services falling within the scope of the proposed regulation. At this juncture, it is necessary to consider what other measures, aside from the tachograph, the Community institutions should adopt to address the issue of the total daily driving time of drivers providing both a service that is excluded from the rules and one that is included in the scope of the proposal.

2.7. It is possible to reduce further still the number of exceptions provided for by the regulation. For example, there are no grounds for excluding the transportation of circus equipment listed under Article 3. This article suggests that the rules apply to vehicles rather than to driving time.

3. Comments on the text of the proposal

Chapter I. Introductory provisions

3.1. The proposal for a regulation details the different concepts to which it applies. In this regard the following improvements are proposed: In Article 1, "methods of (...) transport" should be replaced by "modes of (...) transport".

3.2. In Article 2(1)(a), "3,5 tonnes" should be replaced by "2 tonnes", as statistics show that there is a high accident rate in the 2 - 3,5 tonne goods transport vehicle sector.

3.3. In Article 4(4) concerning breaks: a "break" should be defined as follows: any period of time during which a driver does not carry out any other work.

3.4. The following changes are proposed with regard to the daily rest period referred to in Article 4(7): "daily rest period" means the period of time of which the driver may freely dispose, be it a "regular daily rest period" or a "reduced daily rest period."

3.5. Similarly, with regard to the weekly rest period referred to in Article 4(8), the following small changes are proposed: "weekly rest period" means the period of time of which the driver may freely dispose, be it a "regular weekly rest period" or a "reduced weekly rest period".

3.6. The notion of "regular" services should also include "special-use regular services", such as services for workers or schoolchildren, which also have a regular timetable, schedule, route, etc., as referred to in Article 2(1), subparagraph 2, indents a, b and c of Council Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 of 16 March 1992.

3.7. Article 4(14) should close with the phrase "who also drives the vehicle". The wording of Article 4(15) should be more specific, particularly from a professional perspective.

3.8. With regard to the scope, the following wording is proposed: vehicles used for the carriage of passengers on services within a 50 km radius.

3.9. Under Article 3(5) the phrase "owned or hired in without a driver by the State" should be deleted, since whether the vehicle is owned or rented is immaterial to the aims of the proposal. The text would thus read as follows: "Specialised vehicles used for medical purposes".

3.10. Concerning Article 3(7), the phrase "operating within a 50 km radius of their base" should be replaced by "operating within a radius of not more than 50 km from their base".

Chapter II. Crew, driving times, breaks and rest periods

3.11. Article 5 makes no reference to a minimum age for drivers, from which the Committee concludes, in the context of the current debate within the Community institutions on the directive on vocational training for drivers, that drivers could be as young as 18. This measure could be extremely positive for the sector and for job creation in general, given the current shortage of drivers.

3.12. For this reason, it is proposed to delete paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 5 of the proposal in relation to conductors and driver's mates, since if the age threshold for the largest category (drivers) is removed, it seems logical also to remove that for those less involved in the actual transportation, i.e. conductors and driver's mates, who would be subject to general national employment law.

3.13. The Committee has no objection to the new wording of Article 7(1) and (2), but considers it essential to retain the possibility of splitting breaks, which also facilitate improved service (particularly in passenger transport) and help to improve levels of road safety. It is thus proposed to include under Article 7 a third paragraph, to read as follows:

"In the case of regular passenger services, the breaks referred to in previous points may be broken down into periods of at least 15 minutes each, interspersed throughout the driving time."

3.14. In the closing sentence of Article 8(6), "is stationary" should be replaced by "is stationary in the case of the daily rest period, or parked in the case of the weekly rest period". It is preferable for the weekly rest period to be taken outside the vehicle.

Chapter III. Liability of the undertaking

3.15. Article 10(4) establishes that transport undertakings are liable for infringements committed by drivers for the benefit of those undertakings, even if the driver was not present on the territory of the Member State at the time of the infringement. The limits to the application of this rule should be considered and defined more specifically, for example in the case of subcontracted services.

3.16. Amendments are proposed to make Article 11 clearer. There should be a reference to the regulation, thus: "than those laid down in Articles 6 to 9 inclusive of this Regulation to carriage by road."

Chapter V. Control procedures and penalties

3.17. Article 19(2). Replace by the following: "the penalties shall include the possibility of immobilisation and removal of the vehicle for serious infringements". The EESC supports harmonisation of infringements and penalties by means of a new directive on driving and traffic.

3.18. The EESC calls on the Commission to consider involving the social partners in implementing the regulation, in particular Articles 22 and 23.

3.19. In Article 23(1), "may bring (...) to the attention of the Commission" should be replaced by "may refer (...) to the Commission".

Brussels, 29 May 2002.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs