REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation in 2015-2016 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and of Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities
Date: 2018-10-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, application of EU law, arrangement of working time, drivers, driving period, rest period, road safety, road transport, social legislation, transport statistics

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 18.10.2018 COM(2018) 698 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation in 2015-2016 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and of Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities {SWD(2018) 439 final}  
 
 
I. 

Introduction 

This report gives an overview of the implementation of the EU social rules in road transport 
in  the  Member  States  for  the  period  of  1  January  2015  until  31  December  2016.  It  also 
highlights the key challenges in enforcement and application of the relevant legal provisions, 
which are set out in the following four legislative acts:   

1) Regulation (EC) No 561/20061 (also known as the Driving Time Regulation) establishing 
the minimum requirements on daily and weekly driving times, breaks and daily and weekly 
rest periods; 

2)  Directive  2002/15/EC2 (also  known  as  the  Road  Transport  Working  Time  Directive) 
laying  down  the  rules  on  the  organisation  of  the  working  time  of  mobile  workers.  It 
establishes the  requirements on maximum weekly working times, minimum breaks in work 
and on nighttime working. It applies to drivers falling within the scope of the Driving Time 
Regulation;                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

3) Directive 2006/22/EC3 (also known as the Enforcement Directive) establishing minimum 
levels  of  roadside  checks  and  controls  at  the  premises  of  transport  undertakings  to  verify 
compliance with the provisions of the Driving Time Regulation; 

4) Regulation (EU) No 165/20144 (also known as the Tachograph  Regulation), which sets 
the  requirements  on  the  installation  and  the  use  of  tachographs  in  vehicles  in  scope  of  the 
Driving Time Regulation. 

This  report,  based  on  Article  17  of  the  Driving  Time  Regulation  and  on  Article  13  of  the 
Road  Transport  Working  Time  Directive5,  comprises  quantitative  and  qualitative  data  on 
checks  carried  out  at  roadside  and  at  premises  of  undertakings  as  well  as  on  offences 

1 Regulation  (EC)  No  561/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15  March  2006  on  the 
harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) 
No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 (OJ L 102, 11.4.2006, 
p. 1) 
2 Directive 2002/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 on the organisation of 
the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities (OJ L 80, 23.3.2002, p. 35) 
3  Directive  2006/22/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15  March  2006  on  minimum 
conditions  for  the  implementation  of  Council  Regulations  (EEC)  No  3820/85  and  (EEC)  No  3821/85 
concerning  social  legislation  relating  to  road  transport  activities  and  repealing  Council  Directive  88/599/EEC 
(OJ L 102, 11.4.2006, p. 36) 
4  Regulation  (EU)  No  165/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  4  February  2014  on 
tachographs in road transport, repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on recording equipment in road 
transport  and  amending  Regulation  (EC)  No  561/2006 of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the 
harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport (OJ L 60, 28.2.2014, p. 1) 
5 Article  17  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  561/2006  requires  Member  States  to  communicate  every  two  years  the 
necessary information to enable the Commission to draw up a report on the application of that Regulation and 
the  developments  in  the  fields  in  question.  Article  13  of  Directive  2002/15/EC  provides  that  Member  States 
should report to the Commission on the implementation of the Directive, indicating the views of the two sides of 
the industry. The reports on Directive 2002/15/EC and Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 can be presented in one 
single document as both legislative acts cover the same two-year reporting period and establish complementary 
rules for professional drivers. 

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is  complementing 

detected. It also states what use has been made of the exceptions provided for in Article 13 of 
Regulation  (EC)  N°  561/2006 6 .  Finally,  it  contains  qualitative  information  on  the 
implementation  of  the  Road  Transport  Working  Time  Directive.  A  Commission  Staff 
the  Commission  report  with  supplementary 
Working  document 
information on penalties, cooperation between Member States, comments from enforcement 
authorities  and  other  more  detailed  statistics.  The  report  is  structured  into  four  sections: 
Section  I  summarises  the  quality  and  timeliness  of  national  data  submissions.  Section  II 
provides the analysis of the national data on checks and offences whereas Section III gives a 
descriptive  outline  of  the  implementation  by  the  Member  States  of  Directive  2002/15/EC. 
Finally, section IV draws the main conclusions of this report. 

Data submission 

The  national  reports  on  the  implementation  of  the  provisions  of  Directive  2002/15/EC  and 
Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 must be submitted by means of the revised standard reporting 
form established by the Commission Implementing Decision of 30 March 20177. 

All Member States have submitted their national data though many not timely. The quality of 
data  continues  to  improve  as  regards  Regulation  (EC)  No  561/2006.  Almost  all  Member 
States8 provided  the  requested  breakdown  of  detailed  statistics  on  controls  of  compliance 
carried out at roadside and at premises. However, more improvement can be made as regards 
information  provided  on  penalties,  international  cooperation,  changes  to  national  laws  or 
conclusions drawn. 

In addition, Member States informed the Commission of the national exceptions granted from 
the application of the provisions on driving times, breaks and rest periods in accordance with 
Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006. The updated list of exceptions is included in the 
accompanying document and available on the Commission's website9.  

As  regards  the  information  on  the  implementation  of  the  Road  Transport  Working  Time 
Directive, not all Member States have submitted such information10 and only a few Member 
States  provided  statistical  data  on  controls  and  their  outcomes 11 .  Many  Member  States 
indicated  that  no  changes  had  occurred  during  the  reporting  period  regarding  their  national 
legislation  to  explain  the  lack  of  information  provided.  Overall,  very  little  updated 
quantitative  data  were  provided  by  Member  States,  which  make  an  assessment  difficult. 
Therefore,  in  order  for  the  report  to  satisfy  the  requirements  set  out  in  Article  17  of  the 
Driving  Time  Regulation,  the  Commission  insists  that  more  extensive  qualitative  and 

6 See Section 14 of the accompanying document 
7 C(2017) 1927 final  
8 Except  for  Denmark  who  did  not  provide  detailed  data  from  roadside  checks,  in  particular  on  the  vehicles 
stopped by type and country of registration or tachograph as well as details on the offence detected. The Danish 
authorities informed the Commission that full details would be provided as from January 2017. 
9 Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/national_exceptions_regulation_2006_561.pdf 
10 No reports were received from Belgium Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands and Spain 
11 Quantitative data were provided by Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Luxembourg and 
Poland 

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quantitative data regarding the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC and its enforcement 
should be provided for the next reporting period.   

II. Implementation of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 in the EU  

1.  Checks 

Article  2  of  Directive  2006/22/EC  requires  Member  States  to  organise  a  system  of 
appropriate  and  regular  checks  at  the  roadside  and  at  the  premises  of  undertaking  of  all 
transport categories. These checks should cover each year a large and representative sample 
of mobile workers, drivers, transport undertakings and vehicles. The Article also establishes 
that  a  minimum  number  of  checks  to  carry  out  shall  cover  at  least  3%  of  days  worked  by 
drivers12 of vehicles falling within the scope of Regulation No (EC) 561/2006. 

The national data submitted to the Commission shows that a total number of working days13 
checked in the EU dropped by around 12.8%, meaning a decrease from 151 million to 131.7 
million  of  working  days  checked.  This  is  a  sharper  decrease  compared  to  the  decrease  of 
4.8% between the previous reporting periods 2011-2012 and 2013-2014. However, looking at 
the national figures it seems that this decrease can be mainly explained by a drop of working 
days  checked  in  three  Member  States14.  More  details  can  be  found  in  the  accompanying 
report. 

As illustrated in Figure 1 below, the overall EU average of working days checked is 6.3% 
(it was 7% in 2013-2014), which is twice higher than what is required under the Directive.  

Most of the Member States checked more working days than the minimum required by the 
Directive.  Nevertheless,  three  Member  States  have  not  met  the  threshold  of  3%,  namely 
Greece, the Netherlands and Malta. Whereas Malta and the Netherlands15 were slightly below 
the threshold, the number of working days checked reported by Greece is significantly below 
the  threshold  and  continues  to  fall  compared  to  previous  years.  The  Commission  will 
continue  monitoring  the  developments  in  these  Member  States  and,  starting  from  the  most 
severe cases, will take action to assure the correct application of Directive 2006/22/EC.  

Article 2 of Directive 2006/22/EC sets out the ratio of the working days to be checked at the 
roadside  and  at  the  premises,  namely  30%  and  50%  respectively.  It  should  be  emphasised 
that the calculation of this proportion is based on the number of checks actually performed by 
enforcement  authorities  and  not  on  the  minimum  number  of  working  days  to  be  checked. 
Looking  at  the  Member  States  who  have  met  the  threshold,  only  six  have  the  required 

12 This figure is derived per Member State by the number of working days for two years and the number of 
registered vehicles in scope of the Regulation during that period. 
13 The term ‘working days’ is used interchangeably with the term ‘days worked’ by a driver in the relevant 
legislation: Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, Directive 2006/22/EC and Decision (EU) 2017/1013; 
14 Germany, Romania and France. Please note that data from three Länder are missing in the German national 
report. 
15 The Netherlands have a system of "monitoring based on trust" system in place which indirectly covers more 
working days worked by drivers and indirectly would allow them to fulfil the minimum threshold. 

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balanced  share  between  premises  and  roadside  checks.  On  average,  74%  of  the  working 
days  checked  have  been  done  at  the  roadside  whereas  26%  were  checked  through 
inspections  at  the  premises.  This  represents  a  slight  increase  in  the  premises  checks 
compared to last year, where it was 23%. As already highlighted in the last report, Ireland 
was  below  the  roadside  threshold  of  30%  with  only  7%.  For  more  details  on  the  national 
share of roadside and premises checks see Figure 2.  

1.1 Roadside checks 

In total, 8,162,703 vehicles16 and 5,846,011 drivers were checked on the roadside throughout 
the  EU.  The  high  discrepancy  between  these  two  numbers  can  be  explained  by  incomplete 
data submitted by Germany and Finland17, which comprise only part of the total number of 
drivers checked on the roadside.   

Compared  to  the  last  report  for  years  2013-2014  the  number  of  vehicles  checked 
increased by 24%. This is mainly due to a significant increase in vehicles checked reported 
by  Germany  and  Finland  compared  to  the  last  reporting  period18.  The  number  of  drivers 
checked  decreased  by  22%  compared  to  2013-2014.  However,  this  can  also  be  mainly 
explained  by  the  considerable  decrease  in  the  number  of  drivers  that  was  reported  by 
Germany  between  2013-2014  and  2015-2016  as  well  as  the  cumulative  effect  of  smaller 
decreases in several other Member States19.  

Based on the country of registration of the vehicle, 63% of the vehicles checked in the EU 
were  national  vehicles,  32%  were  from  other  EU  Member  States  and  6%  were  vehicles 
registered in non-EU countries20. Overall, most of the vehicles checked on the road (91% of 
the total) are carriers of goods whereas only 9% were carrying passengers. More details are 
available in the accompanying document under Title 422.  

In 2015-2016, 72% of the vehicles checked at the roadside were equipped with a digital 
tachograph. Hence, there are no grounds for raising the threshold of checks from 3% to 4%, 
as  this  should  only  be  done  if  90%  of  checked  vehicles  are  equipped  with  digital 
tachographs21. 

16 This does not include data from Denmark 
17 The number of vehicles checked include data collected by both the police and customs whereas the number of 
drivers checked on the roadside does not include drivers checked by the police. Therefore, the number of drivers 
checked by the police is not reflected in these numbers.  
18 This represents an increase of 1,081,586 more vehicles checked reported by Finland and 1,312,597 by 
Germany.  
19 Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Poland, Romania and Spain 
20 Data provided by Germany and Finland were not included in these calculations due to the submission of 
incomplete data.  
21 Article 2.3 of Directive 2006/22/EC 

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Figure 1: Percentage of working days checked per Member State22 

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% of checks at the roadside

% of checks at the premises

Figure 2: Share of roadside and premises checks based on working days checked per Member State 

22 Data for Finland do not include days considered as the driver’s weekly rest, thus the actual number of working days checked are much higher. 

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1.2 Check at the premises 

In total, 146,967 transport undertakings were checked over the 2015-2016 period, which is a 
similar  result  compared  to  2013-2014 23.  During  those  controls  at  premises,  around  34.8 
million working days were checked which represents a slight increase of 1% compared to the 
previous report. Overall, Member States checked around 663,000 drivers during 2015-2016, 
which is 12% fewer drivers checked compared to 2013-2014. 

2. Offences 

Almost all Member States24 provided data on offences detected, but not all25 provided details 
on  the  types  of  infringements.  The  total  number  of  offences  reported  was  around  3.46 
million, which constitutes an increase by 6% compared to the last report (3.3 million). 
The slight increase may be explained by the fact that Latvia has provided for the first time the 
number of offences26, which would almost offset the difference with the last report. Whereas 
offences detected at the premises rose by 19%, offences detected at the roadside decreased by 
3%.  The  share  of  roadside  offences  decreased  from  63%  to  58%  of  total  offences  detected 
compared to the last report. 

The  share  of  types  of  infringements  remained  similar,  with  some  slight  changes.  Figure  3 
below illustrates the share  of infringements detected  in  2015-2016  by the type of provision 
infringed.  Compared  to  the  last  report,  offences  regarding  breaks  and  driving  time 
respectively decreased from 23% to 21% and 16% to 13%, whereas offences of the driving 
time records rose from 17% to 24%. Out of all offences detected throughout the EU at both 
roadside  and  premises,  offences  for  rest  periods  constitute  24%  (25%  in  the  last  report), 
recording equipment27 represent 11% (10% in the last report) and the lack/availability of 
records for other work constitute 7% (8% in the last report).  

When  looking  at  the  developments  since  2007,  which  are  presented  in  Figure  4,  it  appears 
that infringements found on breaks and driving times have gradually decreased. Instead, there 
has  been  a  continuous  increase  in  offences  detected  as  regards  driving  time  records,  which 
rose from 14% to 24%, whereas infringements on rest remained high over the years. 

The average  offence rate, which  is  calculated on  the basis  of  100 working days checked at 
premises and  roadside checks, has increased from 2.17 in 2013-2014 to 2.6. The  detection 
rate  at  premises  remains  twice  as  high  as  the  detection  rate  at  the  roadside,  which 
illustrates  that  checks  at  the  premises  are  much  more  efficient  than  ad  hoc  roadside 
controls.  

23 147,606 transport undertakings have been checked. 
24 Except for Denmark which did not provide data on offences on the roadside 
25 Denmark, Finland did not provide data for roadside offences and Latvia not for premises checks. 
26 Latvian authorities explained that in the past they have sent information on the number of undertakings where 
offences were detected. 
27 Offences regarding recording equipment relate to the incorrect functioning and misuse or manipulation of the 
recording equipment.  

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7% 

11% 

21% 

24% 

24% 

13% 

breaks

rest periods

driving time

driving time records

recording equipment

lack/availability of
records for other work

Figure 3: Categories of infringements at roadside and premises 2015-2016 

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Figure 4: Categories of infringements at roadside and premises over the last 10 years. 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.1 Offences detected at roadside 

In 2015-2016, around 2 million of offences were detected at the roadside, which represents a 
decrease  of  around  3%  compared  to  the  last  reporting  period.  The  EU  average  of  offences 
detected at the roadside is 2.17 per 100 working days checked, which has slightly increased 
compared to 1.77 in the last report. On average, 58% of offences were found to be committed 
by domestic drivers.   

2.2 Offences detected at the premises 

Offences  detected  at  the  premises  were  around  1.48  million,  which  represents  an 
increase  of  21%  compared  to  the  last  report. The average offence rate per 100  working 
days checked is 4.19 which increased by 18% compared to last average of 3.54 in 2013-2014. 
The rise could be partly explained by the high offence rate communicated for the first time by 
Latvia28.  In the past,  offence rates have shown a  trend to  decrease  from 8.65  in  2009-2010 
and 5.29 in 2011-2012. 

The average offence rate detected at premises per undertaking has almost tripled from 12.77 
to 36.57. This  can mainly  be explained  by the  fact that this  is the first  reporting  period  for 
which the Commission received this information from all Member States29.  

2.3. Number of enforcement officers and equipment to analyse tachographs 

Over the period 2015-2016, 61,503 control officers were involved in checks throughout the 
EU. This number remained stable compared to 2013-2014.  

In  the  EU,  during  the  reporting  period  2015-2016,  23,725  control  officers  were  trained  to 
analyse  the  digital  tachograph.  This  number  decreased  by  5.7%  when  compared  to  2013-
2014. There is also a decreasing trend regarding the units of equipment provided to control 
officers  to  analyse  the  tachograph  as  it  decreased  by  5.5%  compared  to  the  last  report  and 
given that the decrease between 2013-204 and 2011-2012 was of 8%.  

4. Cooperation between Member States 

According to Article 5 of Directive 2006/22/EC, Member States are obliged to undertake not 
less than six concerted roadside checks per year with at least one other Member State. Four 
Member States30 did not provide information on the number of concerted checks. Out of the 
Member States that did provide information, 15 Member States31 met the required number of 
concerted checks per year.  

28 Latvia explained that the figures provided for the last reports were showing the number of undertakings where 
offences were found instead of number of offences detected. 
29 In the last report four Member States have not provided information. 
30 Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece 
31 Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, 
Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, UK. 

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The reported figures on joint enforcement activities are very similar to those from the 2013-
2014  report.  Cooperation  between  Member  States  concerns  mostly  neighbouring  Member 
States. Also, as for the last reporting period, just under half of the Member States indicated 
that  the  concertation  takes  place  within  the  framework  of  Euro  Contrôle  Route  (ECR). 
Several  Member  States  indicated  that  ECR  had  proven  to  be  useful  in  exchanging 
information  regarding  best  enforcement  practices,  new  technologies  and  data  exchange. 
Some  Member  States  also  mentioned  their  active  participation  in  hosting  sessions  to  share 
experiences such as workshops, master classes and bilateral roadside checks. 

The  cooperation  between  Member  States  based  on  concerted  checks,  joint  training 
initiatives or exchanges of experience and information, plays a crucial role in achieving 
the  objectives  of  the  social  legislation  in  the  road  transport  sector  i.e.  improved  level 
playing  field,  road  safety  and  harmonisation  of  working  conditions.  Therefore,  the 
European Commission has tabled a legislative proposal as part of the first Mobility Package 
adopted  in  May  2017  to  promote  and  reinforce  the  cooperation  and  mutual  assistance 
between Member States and ensure more effective and consistent enforcement of the rules in 
force32. In addition, in 2018 the Commission adopted a proposal to create a European Labour 
Authority (ELA), whose overarching objective is to ensure fair labour mobility in the Internal 
Market33.  One  of  the  main  tasks  of  ELA  would  consist  in  supporting  cooperation  between 
Member States in the cross-border enforcement and facilitating joint inspections including in 
the  area  of  EU  social  rules  in  the  road  transport  sector.  In  practice,  this  authority  would 
provide national authorities with operational and technical support to exchange information, 
develop day-to-day cooperation procedures and facilitate Member States in carrying out joint 
inspections.  

III. Data analysis on the implementation of the Road Transport Working Time 
Directive (Directive 2002/15/EC) 

1.  Introduction  

This  chapter  deals  with  the  implementation  by  Member  States  in  2015-2016  of  Directive 
2002/15/EC,  also  referred 
the  “Road  Transport  Working  Time  Directive”.  
According to Article 13 of this Directive, Member States are obliged to submit a report on its 
implementation to the Commission every two  years, indicating the views of employees and 
employers at national level.  

to  as 

2.  The scope of Directive 2002/15/EC 

The  Directive  establishes  rules  governing,  inter  alia,  adequate  breaks  during  the  working 
period,  the  maximum  weekly  working  time  and  night  work.  Its  provisions  supplement  the 
rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods established by Regulation (EC) No 561/2006. 

32 COM(2017) 278 final  
33 COM(2018) 131 final 

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As this Directive lays down certain provisions concerning hours of work that are specific to 
the  road  transport  sector,  it  is  regarded  as  a  lex  specialis  to  the  general  Directive 
2003/88/EC34 on working time, which establishes basic requirements for the organisation of 
the working time of workers in all sectors. Furthermore, the Charter of Fundamental Rights 
of the European Union contains provisions concerning working time and working conditions 
under its Article 31, which have to be respected when implementing EU  law. A number of 
basic protection provisions of the general Working Time Directive, including rules on annual 
leave and free health assessment for night workers, are also applicable to mobile workers in 
road transport. 

3.  Submission and quality of national reports 

As  for  the  previous  reporting  period,  a  common  reporting  format  prepared  by  the 
Commission35 was  sent  to  Member  States  in  order  to  facilitate  the  reporting  exercise  and 
reduce  administrative  burden.  Five  Member  States 36  did  not  submit  any  information 
regarding  the  implementation  of  Directive  2002/15/EC.  The  quality  of  the  information 
submitted  by  other  Member  States  varies  significantly,  and,  many  Member  States  provided 
scarce  and  incomplete  information37.  Some  Member  States  explained  that  no  changes  had 
happened  between  the  two  reporting  periods.  Nonetheless,  up-to-date  statistical  data  on 
controls and infringements are missing in the reports submitted by a considerable number of 
Member  States.  The  most  complete  reports  generally  tend  to  include  information  on 
institutional  organisation,  implementation  challenges  and  some  quantitative  data.  However, 
due to the significant number of incomplete submissions, the results of this analysis cannot be 
considered as representative for the whole European Union. Additional efforts are  expected 
from  the  Member  States  for  the  next  reporting  period  regarding  information  on  the 
implementation  of  Directive  2002/15/EC,  which  should  allow  for  a  more  comprehensive 
assessment.  The  Commission  may  decide  to  take  legal  actions  against  Member  States  for 
failure to comply by Member States with the requirement to submit the information specified 
in the Commission Decision establishing a reporting format38.    

4.  Implementation aspects in Member States  

None of the Member States having submitted a report indicated any change in the legislation 
implementing  Directive  2002/15/EC  during  the  years  2015-2016.  Overall,  in  most  Member 
States, the last  amendments of the national legislation were  related to the inclusion of self-
employed drivers within the scope of their national law on working time in the road transport 
sector and were already reported in the 2013-2014 report.  

34 Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain 
aspects of the organisation of working time (OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, p.9) 
35 Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1013 of 30 March 2017 drawing up the standard reporting 
form referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council: 
OJ L 153 of 16.6.2017, p.28 
36 Belgium, Greece, Spain, Latvia and Croatia 
37 Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg,  Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and the United 
Kingdom  
38 C(2017) 1927 final  

11 

 
 
                                                 
No  trend  could  be  identified  regarding  implementation  issues  related  to  Directive 
2002/15/EC. These rather relate to the national contexts and specific issues arising in some 
Member  States.  For  instance,  in  its  report,  Italy  mentions  issues  regarding  the  need  for 
clarification of some definitions laid down in the Directive. This relates to the “time devoted 
to all road transport activities” and “periods of time during which the mobile worker cannot 
dispose  freely  of  his  time”.  In  the  Czech  Republic,  a  new  work  pattern  by  which  one 
employee (driver) works for two employers (transport undertakings) gave rise to difficulties 
in  implementing  the  Directive.  Indeed,  such  practices  were  reported  as  being  difficult  to 
prove as only a transport undertaking subject to Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 is required to 
request a copy of a working-time record from another employer.  

As  regards  the  monitoring  of  implementation  of  the  Directive,  several  Member  States 39 
emphasised the importance of providing advice and guidance to the sector on how to comply 
with  the  complexity  of  the  social  rules  in  road  transport.  For  instance,  Lithuania  indicated 
that  guidance  on  requirements  and  instructions  is  issued  to  employers.  Similarly,  Irish 
authorities use a stepped approach involving a combination of advice and guidance and the 
use of formal directions prior to taking the prosecution route. In Sweden, during inspections, 
authorities  try  to  establish  a  dialogue  with  the  employer  or  self-employed  driver  to  ensure 
that they understand the rules and take the necessary measures to follow them. This approach 
was considered valuable by Slovakia that reported that the situation with respect to training 
and  knowledge  of  the  law  among  drivers  and  employers  had  improved  compared  with 
previous years.  

Finally,  as  regards  judicial  interpretation  by  national  courts,  none  of  the  Member  States 
reported  any  significant  national  court  decisions  interpreting  Directive  2002/15/EC  during 
2015-2016.  

4.1.Offences against working time rules 

Some  Member  States 40 informed  about  the  possibility  in  the  first  instance,  when  the 
infringement is detected, to order its rectification within a defined period. In cases were the 
deficiency  fails  to  be  addressed,  the  enforcement  authorities  will  proceed  with  their 
respective  sanctions.  This  consists  in  initiating  administrative  proceedings  in  Austria  and 
Slovakia and/or issuing a fine in Estonia and Finland.  

Only  eight  Member  States41 provided  quantitative  data  on  offenses  detected  which  is  even 
less than for the last reporting period where ten Member States had provided this information. 
The  insufficient  number  of  contributions  does  not  allow  for  any  relevant  EU-wide 
conclusions to be drawn. All Member States are therefore invited to include this data in the 
next reports.  

39 Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden 
40 Austria, Estonia, Finland, Slovakia 
41 Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Poland 

12 

 
 
 
                                                 
5. Stakeholders' views on implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC 

Only ten Member States clearly indicated that stakeholders were consulted in the framework 
of  this  reporting  exercise42.  This  number  is  stable  compared  to  the  last  report  but  still  low 
compared to previous years43. In all Member States, this consultation consisted in getting the 
views  of  representatives  of  employers  and  trade  unions.  In  six  out  of  ten  Member  States, 
social  partners  were  consulted  but  their  views  did  not  give  rise  to  a  specifically  dedicated 
section of the report44. They were rather incorporated throughout the document or, in a few 
cases, the report only mentioned that social partners did not have any comments. This makes 
it  impossible  to  further  analyse  opinions  from  social  partners  as  as  their  replies  do  not 
constitute a representative  sample45.  The Commission  would  like to  remind Member States 
that Article 13(1) of Directive 2002/15/EC requires them to include the views of both sides of 
industry as part of this reporting exercise.  

IV. Conclusions  

Over the 2015-2016 period, all but three Member States46, have met the minimum threshold 
of working days to be checked. The largest share of working days checked is still performed 
during roadside checks and even though the share at premises is growing, only six out of 28 
Member States have reached the required distribution of at least 50% of checks at premises 
and at least 30% at the roadside.  

Data submitted by Member States for this reporting period, confirm the trend of a continuous 
decrease  of  the  number  of  working  days  checked.  For  2015-2016,  this  can  be  mainly 
explained  by  a  significant  decrease  of  working  days  checked  in  France,  Germany  and 
Romania.  This  also  led  to  a  slight  decrease  in  the  average  of  working  days  checked  at  EU 
level.  

Even  though  the  number  of  working  days  checked  has  sharply  decreased,  the  number  of 
offences  detected  has  increased  slightly.  The  increase  is  to  a  great  extend  due  to  a  larger 
number of offences detected in one Member State47 but could also mean that checks became 
more  effective  in  general.  In  contrast  to  the  roadside  checks,  detection  rate  at  the  premises 
has  increased  and  is  twice  as  high  as  on  the  roadside.  The  detection  rate  per  transport 
undertaking  checked  has  tripled.  This  may  be  a  combined  effect  of  more  effective 
enforcement and more offences committed. 

Detection rate is varying significantly throughout the EU and only a small group of Member 
States48 have reported over two thirds of offences detected in the EU. It is worth emphasising 

42 Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia 
43 Ten Member States consulted stakeholders for the last reporting period and 16 the reporting period 2011-
2012.  
44 Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Lithuania, Poland,  
45 Ireland, Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia 
46 Greece, Malta and the Netherlands.  
47 Latvia 
48 Germany, Poland, Austria, Latvia and Italy. 

13 

 
 
                                                 
that  some  Member  States,  which  have  very  low  offence  rates,  are  among  the  top  seven 
Member States with the highest percentage of working days checked.   

The  shares  of  the  different  types  of  infringements  remain  similar  compared  to  the  last 
reporting  period.  There  are,  however,  two  developments  to  be  noted:  the  number  offences 
detected on manipulation of the tachograph has risen compared to the other types of offences 
detected at the  roadside,  and checks  at  premises  show that there is a significant increase in 
offences related to driving time records, which are either incomplete or incorrect. This may 
indicate that undertakings and/or drivers experience difficulties with storing the relevant data 
appropriately. Enforcers also reported that significantly lower fines for missing time records 
compared to the fines for excessive driving times or insufficient rest periods could encourage 
drivers and operators to hide the records which could reveal infringements leading to higher 
penalties. The entry into force of Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/403 on 1 January 2017 
with  regard  to  the  classification  of  serious  infringements  of  the  Union  rules49 may  deter 
developments  as  missing  driving  time  records  are  classified  as  a  very  serious  infringement 
and thus should lead to fines that are proportionate to the level of seriousness. 

The increase in offences detected on misuse and manipulation of the tachograph also shows 
that  there  is  a  need  to  deploy,  as  soon  as  possible,  a  more  tamper  proof  version  of  the 
recording equipment, namely the smart tachograph, which will be mandatory in new vehicles 
from  15  June  2019  onwards.  The  smart  tachograph  will  have  a  new  set  of  communication 
capabilities that are more advanced than the current digital tachograph, such as satellite geo-
localisation or short-range communication for the transmission of information to enforcement 
authorities.  

On  concerted  checks,  15  Member  States50 fulfilled  the  requirement  of  six  concerted  joint 
checks  per  year,  which  is  similar  to  the  findings  of  the  last  report.  Overall,  Member  States 
stressed that concerted checks were a valuable way to share, maintain and improve expertise 
and  knowledge.  The  Commission  is  therefore  encouraging  Member  States  to  further 
strengthen  their  efforts  in  improving  international  cooperation.  The  Commission  proposal 
tabled as part of Mobility Package I envisages boosting administrative cooperation between 
Member States, which should also lead to a better exchange of best practices and expertise in 
the field of enforcement. This includes a proposal for more structured and regular exchange 
of  data  and  information  between  national  enforcement  authorities  concerning  enforcement 
practices  and  verifying  compliance  of  operators  active  in  cross-border  operations. 
Cooperation between  enforcers and joint inspections are  also  among the tasks of the newly 
proposed European Labour Authority that should help coordinating Member States’ efforts in 
the field. 

49 Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/403 of 18 March 2016 supplementing Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of 
the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  with  regard  to  the  classification  of  serious  infringements  of  the 
Union rules, which may lead to the loss of good repute by the road transport operator, and amending Annex III 
to Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ L 74, 19.3.2016, p. 8. 
50 Austria,  Czech  Republic, Germany, France, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia,  Lithuania,  Luxembourg, Netherlands, 
Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 

14 

 
 
                                                 
Regarding the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC on working time in the road transport 
sector,  the  incompleteness  of  the  national  reports  received  did  not  allow  for  an  in-depth 
analysis. The Commission would like to stress the importance of this reporting exercise and 
that  legal  action  can  be  launched  against  Member  States  for  failing  to  comply  with  the 
requirement to  submit  the information  specified in the  Commission Decision  establishing a 
reporting  format 51.  Overall,  Member  States  did  not  report  on  any  changes  in  relation  to 
amendments of their legislation on working time in road transport nor on any court decisions 
on those matters. Some Member States emphasised the importance of providing guidance to 
employers and  self-employed  drivers during inspections  to  reach better compliance.  Only  a 
few Member  States  provided views of social partners  as part  of this  report and only a  very 
low number of Member States provided quantitative data on  checks and offenses related to 
working  time  in  the  road  transport  sector.  It  was  therefore  not  possible  to  draw  general 
conclusions on these aspects for the 2015-2016 period at EU level.  

51 C(2017) 1927 final  

15