COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2003/59/EC on the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers and Directive 2006/126/EC on driving licences
Date: 2017-02-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, continuing vocational training, drivers, driving instruction, driving licence, professional qualifications, recognition of vocational training qualifications, road safety, transport regulations

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 1.2.2017  SWD(2017) 26 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2003/59/EC on the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers and Directive 2006/126/EC on driving licences {COM(2017) 47 final} {SWD(2017) 27 final}  
 
 
Executive Summary Sheet 

Impact assessment on a Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2003/59/EC on the initial qualification 
and  periodic  training  of  drivers  of  certain  road  vehicles  for  the  carriage  of  goods  or  passengers  and 
Directive 2006/126/EC on driving licences 

What’s the problem? 

Main problems: 

A. Need for action 

1)  difficulties with mutual recognition of training 
2)  training content not fully relevant to drivers’ needs 
3)  difficulties and legal uncertainties in the interpretation of exemptions 
4) 

inconsistencies  in  minimum  age  requirements  between  Directive  on  the  initial  qualification  and 
periodic training of drivers (Directive) and Directive on driving licences (DLD) 

What is this initiative expected to achieve? 

General objective: contributing to road safety and free movement of professional drivers 
Specific objectives (SO): 

1) streamline administrative practices for mutual recognition in Member States 
2) training content to encompass ICT, road safety and fuel efficiency 
3) improvement of legal clarity and consistency with other EU legislation 

What is the value added of action at EU level? 

Efficient solutions for transnational problems 
Improved training systems 
Level playing field for road transport operators in terms of road safety standards  

B. Solutions 

What legislative and non-legislative policy options have been considered? Is there a preferred 
choice or not? Why? 
Legislative policy options SO1: 

a) obligatory recognition of CPCs (certificates of professional competence) between Member States 
b)  requirement  to  issue  Driving  Qualification  Cards  (DQC)  if  code  95  cannot  be  indicated  in  the  driving 
licence 
c) extending the information system for driving licences (RESPER) to cover CPC training 

Alternative measures concerning non-EU drivers: 
 1) recognising driver attestations even if code 95 is not indicated or 
 2) marking code 95 on the driver attestation 

Concerning SO2  and SO3: 
      improving training relevance, clearly stating the possibility to use e-learning and blended training 

clarifying the scope of exemptions 
aligning minimal age requirements with DLD 

Preferred choice: SO1 (b) plus alternative measure (1). 

Who supports which option?  
Stakeholders supported all policy options, in principle. 
The  International  Road  Transport  Union  (IRU)  supported  improving  the  current  training  system  and 
adapting it to current needs 
Member States were concerned that issuing DQCs could be burdensome 

C. Impacts of the preferred option 

What are the benefits of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?                                       

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Resolving mutual recognition issues and costs savings of €2.30 million for businesses and €6.7 million for 
drivers (2018-2030) 
Improved training system efficiency 
Improved clarity and consistency of the Directive with other relevant EU legal acts 

What are the costs of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?                                       

Estimated costs (2018-2030): 
   regulatory costs: €6.3 million 
   transitional costs (over four years) for changes to training content: up to €14.1 million 

How will businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises be affected? 

Transport SMEs expected to benefit from increased labour supply and reduced costs 
Possible costs from reviewing the training content not expected to exceed 5 % 

Will there be significant impacts on national budgets and administrations? 

None except regulatory costs 

Will there be other significant impacts?  

No 

D. Follow up 

When will the policy be reviewed?  
The  Commission  will  monitor  effects  of  the  new  policy  cooperating  with  Member  States  and  relevant 
stakeholders 

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