European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a European Parliament and Council directive on the organisation of the working time of persons whose occupation is the performance of mobile road-transport activities (5919/1/2001 - C5-0134/2001 - 1998/0319(COD))
Date: 2001-06-14
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: arrangement of working time, drivers, occupational safety, organisation of work, road transport, working time

28.2.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 53 E/297

TEXTS ADOPTED

Thursday 14 June 2001

1. Structural Funds *** (procedure without debate)

A5-0164/2001

European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation amending
Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds
(COM(2000) 774 (cid:129) C5-0752/2000 (cid:129) 2000/0306(AVC))

(Assent procedure)

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to the proposal for a Council Regulation (COM(2000) 774) (1),

(cid:129) having regard to the Council(cid:146)s request for Parliament(cid:146)s assent pursuant to Article 161(1) of the EC

Treaty (C5-0752/2000),

(cid:129) having regard to Rule 86(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:129) having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism

and the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (A5-0164/2001),

1.

2.

Gives its assent to the proposal for a Council Regulation;

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

(1) OJ C 96 E, 27.3.2001, p. 272.

2. Working time in mobile road-transport activities ***II

A5-0196/2001

European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a Euro-
pean Parliament and Council directive on the organisation of the working time of persons whose
occupation is the performance of mobile road-transport activities (5919/1/2001 (cid:129) C5-0134/2001 (cid:129)
1998/0319(COD))

(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to the Council common position (5919/1/2001 (cid:129) C5-0134/2001) (1),

(cid:129) having regard to its position at first reading (2) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the

Council (COM(1998) 662) (3),

(cid:129) having regard to the amended proposal (COM(2000) 754) (4),

(cid:129) having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,

(cid:129) having regard to Rule 80 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:129) having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Employment and

Social Affairs (A5-0196/2001),

(1) OJ C 142, 15.5.2001, p. 24.
(2) OJ C 219, 30.7.1999, p. 235.
(3) OJ C 43, 17.2.1999, p. 4.
(4) OJ C 120 E, 24.4.2001, p. 284.

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1.

2.

Amends the common position as follows;

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

COUNCIL
COMMON POSITION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 1
Title

Directive 2001/(cid:133)/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the organisation of working time of persons
whose occupation is the performance of mobile road-transport
activities

Directive 2001/(cid:133)/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council concerning the organisation of working time for
mobile workers performing road-transport activities and for
self-employed drivers

Amendment 2
Recital 8

(8) As self-employed drivers are included within the scope of
Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 but excluded from that of Direc-
tive 93/104/EC, they should be excluded temporarily from the
scope of this Directive on the understanding that the Commis-
sion will assess the consequences of that temporary exclusion.

(8) As self-employed drivers are included within the scope of
Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 but excluded from that of Direc-
tive 93/104/EC, they should be excluded temporarily from the
scope of this Directive.

Amendment 3
Recital 14

(14) The provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 on driv-
ing time in international and national passenger transport,
other than regular services, should continue to apply. The
working time of drivers carrying out such transport may
therefore, subject to certain conditions, exceed the maximum
weekly average laid down in this Directive for goods trans-
port and for regular passenger transport services.

(14) The provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 on driv-
ing time in international and national passenger transport,
other than regular services, should continue to apply until
such time as the Regulation is revised with a view to includ-
ing a definition of working time compatible with this Direc-
tive.

Amendment 4
Article 2, paragraph 1

This Directive shall apply to mobile workers employed by
1.
undertakings established in a Member State, participating in
road-transport activities covered by Regulation (EEC) No 3820/
85 or,
failing that, by the AETR Agreement and to self-
employed drivers established in a Member State.

This Directive shall not, however, apply to self-employed
drivers until three years after the deadline for transposition
of the Directive by Member States fixed by Article 14.

This Directive shall apply to mobile workers employed by
1.
undertakings established in a Member State, participating in
road-transport activities covered by Regulation (EEC) No 3820/
85 or, failing that, by the AETR Agreement.

By (cid:133) (*), the Commission shall submit an assessment of the
consequences of the temporary exclusion of self-employed
drivers to the European Parliament and to the Council. The
assessment shall analyse in particular the effects of the exclu-
sion of self-employed drivers on road safety, on conditions of
competition, on the structure of the profession and on social
aspects. Depending on the outcome of that analysis, the Com-
mission will propose if appropriate conditions under which
this Directive will apply to self-employed drivers, the defini-
tion of which will have to be made clear, at the latest
on (cid:133) (**).

(*) Five years after the entry into force of this Directive.
(**) Six years after the entry into force of this Directive.

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COUNCIL
COMMON POSITION

Thursday 14 June 2001

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 5

Article 2, paragraph 4a (new)

4a.
The Commission shall present no later than one year
after this Directive enters into force a proposal for revision
of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 which will broaden the
scope of the Regulation to include a definition of working
time compatible with this Directive and ensure that the
Regulation applies to all mobile workers performing road-
transport activities employed by undertakings established in
a Member State and to self-employed drivers.

Amendment 6

Article 3, point (a)

(a)

(cid:145)working time(cid:146) shall mean the time from the beginning to
the end of work, during which the mobile worker is at
his workstation, at the disposal of the employer and exer-
cising his functions or activities, that is to say:

(a)

(cid:145)working time(cid:146) shall mean:

(cid:129) the time devoted to all road transport activities.
These activities are in particular, the following: driv-
ing,
loading and unloading, assisting passengers
boarding and disembarking from the vehicle, cleaning
and technical maintenance as well as all other work
intended to ensure the safety of the vehicle, its cargo
and passengers;

(cid:129) in the case of self-employed drivers: stand-by duty
and the time during which the following activities
are carried out:

(i) driving;

(ii)

loading and unloading;

(iii)

checking or supervising passengers boarding

and disembarking;

(iv)

cleaning and technical maintenance as well as all
other work intended to ensure the safety of the
vehicle, its cargo and passengers;

(v) inspection of the vehicle and monitoring of load-

ing and unloading;

(vi)

administrative formalities with police, customs,

immigration officers, etc.;

(vii)

cooperation with police, customs or immi-

gration officers for checks required by the law;

(cid:129) in the case of mobile workers: the time from the
beginning to the end of work, that is all activities
or standby duty, excluding breaks.

Activities include, in particular:

(i) driving;

(ii)

loading and unloading;

(iii)

checking or supervising passengers boarding

and disembarking;

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COUNCIL
COMMON POSITION

(cid:129) the times during which the mobile worker is required to
remain at his workstation, ready to take up work, and
cannot, on the instructions of his employer, dispose freely
of his time, in particular during periods awaiting loading
or unloading, where their foreseeable duration is not
known in advance, that is to say either before departure
or just before the actual start of the period in question,
or under the general conditions negotiated between the
social partners and/or under the terms of the legislation
of the Member States.

The break times referred to in Article 5, the rest times ref-
erred to in Article 6 and, without prejudice to the legis-
lation of Member States or agreements between the social
partners providing that such periods should be compen-
sated or limited, the periods of availability referred to in
(b) of this Article, shall be excluded from working time;

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

(iv)

cleaning and technical maintenance as well as
all other work intended to ensure the safety of
the vehicle, its cargo and passengers;

(v) inspection of the vehicle and monitoring of load-

ing and unloading;

(vi)

administrative formalities with police, customs,

immigration officers, etc.;

(vii)

administrative work;

(cid:145)stand-by duty(cid:146) shall mean the times during which the
mobile worker is required to remain at his work-
station, ready to take up work where appropriate on
his own initiative, and generally with certain tasks
associated with being on duty;

The break times referred to in Article 5, the rest times
referred to in Article 6 and, without prejudice to the
legislation of Member States or agreements between
the social partners providing that such periods should
be compensated or limited, the periods of availability
referred to in (b) of this Article, shall be excluded from
working time;

Amendment 9

Article 3, point (c), indent 1

(cid:129) the location of

the undertaking for which the mobile

worker carries out duties,

(cid:129) the location of

the undertaking for which the mobile
worker carries out duties, together with its various branch
departments or offices, regardless of whether they are
located in the same place as its head office or main
place of business,

Amendment 10

Article 3, point (e)

(e)

(cid:145)self-employed driver(cid:146) shall mean anyone whose main
occupation is to carry passengers or goods by road at a
customer(cid:146)s request;

(e)

(cid:145)self-employed driver(cid:146) shall mean the head of a commercial
entity, owner of a professional certificate where appro-
priate, who has the freedom to work on his own account,
does not work directly for an undertaking or employer, is
at liberty to choose which freight he carries, has commer-
cial relations with several customers, can negotiate prices
and his own fees, can schedule his working hours freely
and is the owner of one or more vehicles.

Those who do not meet these criteria are subject to the
same rights and obligations under this Directive as
employees.

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COUNCIL
COMMON POSITION

Thursday 14 June 2001

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 11

Article 3, point (g)

(g)

(cid:145)night time(cid:146) shall mean a period of at least four hours, as
defined by national law, between 00.00 hours and 07.00
hours;

(g)

(cid:145)night time(cid:146) shall mean a period of at least seven hours, as
defined by national law, and in any case encompassing
the period between 00.00 hours and 05.00 hours;

Amendment 12

Article 3, point (ha) (new)

(ha)

(cid:145)night worker(cid:146) shall mean any mobile worker or self-
employed driver who performs at least 48 days of his
annual working time during night time.

Amendment 13

Article 5, paragraph 1

1. Member States shall
take the measures necessary to
ensure that, without prejudice to the level of protection pro-
vided by Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 or, failing that, by the
AETR Agreement, mobile workers in no circumstances work
for more than six consecutive hours without a break. Working
time shall be interrupted by a break of at least thirty minutes, if
working hours total between six and nine hours, and of at least
forty-five minutes,
if working hours total more than nine
hours.

1. Member States shall
take the measures necessary to
ensure that, without prejudice to the level of protection pro-
vided by Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 or, failing that, by the
AETR Agreement, mobile workers and self-employed drivers
in no circumstances work for more than six consecutive hours
without a break. Working time shall be interrupted by a break
of at least thirty minutes, if working hours total between six
and nine hours, and of at least forty-five minutes, if working
hours total more than nine hours.

Amendment 14

Article 7, paragraph 1, indent 1

(cid:129) if night work is performed, the daily working time does
not exceed ten hours in each twenty-four-hour period,

(cid:129) if night work is performed, the daily working time does
not exceed eight hours in each twenty-four-hour period.
It may be extended to ten hours only if an average of
eight hours a day is not exceeded within a reference
period to be determined after consultation of the social
partners or
in collective agreements or agreements
between the social partners. For periods in which night
workers are not requested to perform night work, Arti-
cle 4 shall apply;

Amendment 15

Article 8, paragraph 1

1.
Derogations from Articles 4 and 7 may be adopted by
means of laws, regulations or administrative provisions or
by means of collective agreements or agreements between the
two sides of industry, provided that the persons concerned are
afforded equivalent periods of compensatory rest.

1.
Derogations from Article 4 may be adopted by means of
collective agreements, provided that the persons concerned are
afforded equivalent periods of compensatory rest.

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COUNCIL
COMMON POSITION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 16

Article 9, point (b)

(b)

the working time of mobile workers is recorded. Records
shall be preserved for at least one year after the end of the
period covered. Employers shall be responsible for recor-
ding the working time of mobile workers. Employers shall
upon request provide mobile workers with copies of the
records of hours worked.

(b)

the working time of mobile workers is recorded. Records
shall be kept for at least two years after the end of the
period covered. Employers shall be responsible for recor-
ding the working time of mobile workers. Employers shall
upon request provide mobile workers with copies of the
records of hours worked.

Amendment 17

Article 9, point (ba) (new)

(ba)

self-employed drivers maintain a record of their work-
ing time; these records shall be kept for at least two
years; Member States shall carry out controls on working
and driving times equivalent to at least 2 % of all the
working days in this sector; the most important instru-
ment for such controls is the digital tachograph.

Amendment 18

Article 10

This Directive shall not affect Member States(cid:146) right to apply or
introduce laws, regulations or administrative provisions more
favourable to the protection of the health and safety of mobile
workers or their right to facilitate or permit the application of
collective agreements or other agreements concluded between
the two sides of industry which are more favourable to the
protection of the health and safety of mobile workers.

This Directive shall not affect Member States(cid:146) right to apply or
introduce laws, regulations or administrative provisions more
favourable to the protection of the health and safety of mobile
workers or self-employed drivers, or their right to facilitate or
permit the application of collective agreements or other agree-
ments concluded between the two sides of industry which are
more favourable to the protection of the health and safety of
mobile workers. Implementation of this Directive shall not
constitute valid grounds for reducing the general level of pro-
tection afforded to workers.

Amendment 19

Article 11

Member States shall
lay down a system of penalties for
breaches of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this
Directive and shall take all the measures necessary to ensure
that these penalties are applied. The penalties thus provided
for shall be effective, proportional and dissuasive.

Member States shall lay down a common range of penalties for
breaches of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this
Directive and shall take all the measures necessary to ensure
that these penalties are applied. The penalties thus provided
for shall be effective, proportional and dissuasive. Member
States shall notify these provisions to the Commission by
the date mentioned in Article 14 at the latest, and any sub-
sequent amendment thereto in good time.

(*) Three years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(*) Two years after the entry into force of this Directive.

Amendment 20

Article 14, paragraph 1, footnote

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COUNCIL
COMMON POSITION

Thursday 14 June 2001

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 21
Article 14, paragraph 2

2. Without prejudice to the right of Member States to
develop,
in the light of changing circumstances, different
legislative, regulatory or contractual provisions in the field
of working time, as long as the minimum requirements pro-
vided for in this Directive are complied with, implementation
of this Directive shall not constitute valid grounds for reduc-
ing the general level of protection afforded to the persons
referred to in Article 2(1).

Deleted

Amendment 22
Article 14, paragraph 3a (new)

3a. Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure
that the relationships between shippers, freight forwarders,
prime contractors and sub-contractors are regulated through
the adoption of obligatory contracts allowing the verification
of compliance with this Directive.

3. Health and safety at work: work equipment ***II

A5-0156/2001

European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a Euro-
pean Parliament and Council directive amending Council Directive 89/655/EEC concerning the
minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work
(2nd individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (5766/2/
2001 (cid:129) C5-0135/2001 (cid:129) 1998/0327(COD))

(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to the Council common position (5766/2/2001 (cid:129) C5-0135/2001),

(cid:129) having regard to its position at first reading (1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the

Council (COM(1998) 678) (2),

(cid:129) having regard to the Commission(cid:146)s amended proposal (COM(2000) 648) (3),

(cid:129) having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,

(cid:129) having regard to Rule 78 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:129) having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Employment and

Social Affairs (A5-0156/2001),

Approves the common position;

Notes that the act is adopted in accordance with the common position;

1.

2.

Instructs its President to sign the act with the President of the Council pursuant to Article 254(1) of

3.
the EC Treaty;

(cid:145)Texts Adopted(cid:146) of 21.9.2000, Item 8.

(1)
(2) OJ C 247 E, 31.8.1999, p. 23.
(3) OJ C 62 E, 27.2.2001, p. 113.