REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation in 2021-2022 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 (32nd report from the Commission on the implementation of the social legislation relating to road transport)
Date: 2024-09-13
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, 13.9.2024  COM(2024) 405 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation in 2021-2022 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  (32nd report from the Commission on the implementation of the social legislation relating to road transport) {SWD(2024) 215 final}  
 
 
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 2021 until 31 December  2022. It  provides a 
summary of analyses of control activities and highlights the key challenges in enforcement and 
application of the relevant legal provisions 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 nighttime 
work. It applies to drivers 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)  setting the 
requirements  on  the  installation  and  use  of  tachographs  in  vehicles  within  the  scope  of  the 
Driving Time Regulation. 

Contrary  to  the  previous  report,  the  analysis  of  the  implementation  of  Council  Directive 
96/53/EC5 (also known as the Weights and Dimensions Directive) laying down for heavy-
duty vehicles the maximum authorized dimensions in national and international traffic and the 
maximum authorized weights in international traffic, is not included in the present report due 
to  the  lack  of  necessary  information,  as  only  five  Member  States6  complied  with  the  legal 
obligation to submit their national reports.   

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 Regulations (EC) No 561/2006 and (EU) No 165/2014 and Directive 2002/15/EC as 
regards social legislation relating to road transport activities, and repealing Council Directive 88/599/EEC (OJ L 
102, 11.4.2006, p. 35. 
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  Council  Directive  96/53/EC  of  25  July  1996  laying  down  for  certain  road  vehicles  circulating  within  the 
Community  the  maximum  authorized  dimensions  in  national  and  international  traffic  and  the  maximum 
authorized weights in international traffic (OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 59). 
6 Only Austria, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden have provided information pursuant to Article 
10g of Council Directive 96/53/EC for the period 2021-2022.  

1 

 
 
 
This report is based on Article 17 of the Driving Time Regulation and Article 13 of the Road 
Transport Working Time Directive7.   

It is structured into three sections: Section I provides the analysis of the national data on checks 
and  offences  in  the  implementation  of  Directive  2006/22/EC  and  Regulation  (EC)  No 
561/2006, whereas Section II gives a descriptive outline of the implementation by the Member 
States  of  Directive  2002/15/EC.  Section  III  draws  the  main  conclusions  of  this  report.  A 
report  with 
Commission  Staff  Working  document  complements 
supplementary information on penalties, cooperation between Member States, comments from 
enforcement authorities, and more detailed statistics on checks. 

the  Commission 

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 30 September of the year following the 
end of the two-year period concerned, by means of the standard reporting form established by 
the  Commission  Implementing  Decision  of  30  March  20178.  The  deadline  for  submitting 
reports covering years 2021-2022 expired on 30 September 2023. 

All  Member  States  have  submitted  their  national  data  on  the  implementation  of  Regulation 
(EC)  No  561/2006,  though  many  beyond  the  deadline9.  The  Member  States  provided  the 
requested breakdown of detailed statistics on controls of compliance carried out at the roadside 
and at the premises. However, some did not provide data sorted by the requested categories, 
e.g. data sorted by type of tachograph10 and type of offences11.  

Only 21 Member States have submitted the information on the implementation of Directive 
2002/15/EC, out of which only 11 Member States provided statistical data on controls and their 
outcomes, which differs as to the level of detail12. Such lack of quantitative and comparable 
data from Member States makes an assessment difficult.  

I. Overview of enforcement activities for Directive 2006/22/EC and Regulation (EC) No 
561/2006  

1.  Checks 

7  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. 
8 C(2017) 1927 final.  
9 The last national report was submitted on 30 May 2024.  
10 This is the case for Lithuania who informed that data on analogue and smart tachographs was not available due 
to technical error.   
11 Like in the previous reporting period, Latvia did not provide this categorisation for offences at premises.  
12 Most detailed statistics were provided by the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Poland and Slovenia.  

2 

 
 
 
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 undertakings that are subject to the 
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006. This Article also establishes that the minimum 
number of checks shall cover at least 3% of days worked by drivers13 of vehicles falling within 
the scope of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006. 

The national data shows that the total number of working days14 checked in the EU increased 
from around 108.9 million in 2019-2020 to 111.7 million working days checked in the current 
reporting  period.  This  constitutes  an  increase  by  3%.  Looking  at  the  national  figures  the 
increase of working days checked is most important in Malta (+450%15) and the Netherlands 
(+185%),  while  the  decrease  of  working  days  checked  is  most  visible  in  Slovenia  (-48%), 
France (-45%) and Hungary (-39%).     

As illustrated in Figure 1 below, the EU average of working days checked is 4.7%, which is 
higher  than  required  under  the  Directive16,  but  presents  a  decreasing  trend  compared  to 
previous reporting periods (5.4% in 2017-2018 and 6.3% in 2015-2016), except for 4.5% in 
2019-2020. Nevertheless, the score achieved by Romania (21.3%) is high.    

Figure 1: Percentage of working days checked per Member State 

Percentage of working days checked per Member State

18,0%

16,0%

14,0%

12,0%

10,0%

8,0%

6,0%

4,0%

2,0%

0,0%

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AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE EL HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE EU

% of working days checked

0,03

Most of the Member States  checked more  working  days than  the  minimum  required by the 
Directive. Nevertheless, six Member States have not met the threshold of 3%, namely Cyprus, 

13 This figure is based on the number of working days for two years and the number of registered vehicles in scope 
of the Regulation during that period for each Member State. 
14  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. 
15 Nevertheless, Malta has still not met the threshold of 3% of working days checked.  
16 Especially in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal and Romania. 

3 

 
 
 
 
Hungary,  Ireland,  Lithuania,  Malta  and  Slovenia.  This  is  similar  as  in  the  two  previous 
reporting periods (where six Member States have not met the 3% threshold in the years 2019-
2020 and 2017-2018, and three Member States in 2015-2016). Among the six Member States 
which  had  not  met  the  threshold  of  3%  in  2021-2022,  only  Hungary,  Ireland  and  Malta 
remained in this group, joined by the three other Member States, which performed well in the 
previous reporting period. Greece increased its enforcement efforts significantly (improvement 
from  0.1%  in  2015-2016,  0.7%  in  2017-2018,  2.4%  in  2019-2020  to  3.2%  in  the  current 
period), and for the first time since 10 years, it performed above the threshold.  

Article 2 of Directive 2006/22/EC also sets out the ratio of the working days to be checked at 
the  roadside  and  at  the  premises,  namely  at  least  30%  and  at  least  50%  respectively.  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.  

On average, 53% of the working days checked have been done at the roadside whereas 
47% were checked through inspections at the premises. This is a decrease in checks at the 
roadside compared to the last period (60% in 2019-2020) and a positive increase in checks at 
the premises compared to the last period (40% in 2019-2020). In most Member States a large 
share of checks were performed at the roadside. Ireland and Slovenia reported a low number 
of  checks  at  the  roadside.  Eight  Member  States  meet  the  required  balanced  share  between 
premises and roadside checks compared to six Member States in 2019-202017.   

For details on the national share of roadside and premises checks see Figure 2.  

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

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

%
1
2

%
8
1

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9
7

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90%
80%
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AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE EL HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE EU

% at roadside

% at premises

1.1 Roadside checks 

In total, 3,564,138 vehicles and 3,745,458 drivers were checked at the roadside throughout the 
EU  compared  to  4,112,717  vehicles  and  4,323,245  drivers  checked  in  2019-2020.  The 

17 Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Sweden, In 2019-2020 these countries 
were: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.  

4 

 
 
 
 
difference between the number of vehicles and drivers checked may be explained by multi-
manning driving, i.e. where there are at least two drivers in the vehicle to do the driving in 
turns. Differences between the number of drivers and vehicles are mainly present in reports 
from Belgium, Germany, Latvia and Romania.  

Compared to the report for 2019-2020, the reported number of vehicles checked decreased by 
548,579 vehicles and the number of drivers checked decreased by 577,787 drivers.  

Based on the country of registration of the vehicle, 64% of the checked vehicles were national 
vehicles, 29% were from other EU Member States18 and 7% were vehicles registered in third 
countries. Overall, most of the vehicles checked at the roadside (about 93% of the total) were 
carriers of goods, whereas only about 7% were carriers of passengers.  

In 2021-2022, 83% of the vehicles checked at the roadside were equipped with a digital 
tachograph, against 74% in the previous reporting period. Hence, there are no grounds for 
raising the threshold of checks from 3% to 4%, as this should be done when 90% of checked 
vehicles  are  equipped  with  digital  tachographs  according  to  Article  2(3)  of  Directive 
2006/22/EC. 

1.2 Checks at the premises 

In 2021-2022 period, 84,128 transport undertakings were checked, which is a 44% increase 
compared  to  58,300  transport  undertakings  checked  in  2019-2020.  Controllers  at  premises 
checked  around  39.3  million  working  days,  which  represents  an  increase  of  about  14% 
compared to 34.3 million in the previous report. Overall, Member States’ control authorities 
checked  at  the  premises  the  records  of  582,218  drivers,  which  is  16%  more  compared  to 
499,943 drivers in 2019-2020. 

2.  Offences 

All 27 Member States provided data on offences detected, but not all19 provided details on the 
types of infringements.  The total  number  of offences reported was around 3.03  million, 
which  is  an  increase  compared  to  the  last  report  (2.25  million).  The  share  of  roadside 
offences detected decreased to the level of about 50% of total offences detected (60% in the 
last report). 

The share of types of infringements in the overall number of detected infringements remained 
similar as in the previous reporting period, with some slight decreases or increases for certain 
categories of infringements. Figure 3 below illustrates the EU average share of infringements 
by the type of provision infringed, detected at both roadside and premises in 2021-2022. The 
number of offences regarding breaks decreased from 19% to 18%, whereas offences regarding 
driving  time  decreased  from  15%  to  14%  and  offences  regarding  the  driving  time  records 
increased from 26% to 27%. Offences for rest periods constitute 19% of total offences (23% in 

18 The data also includes EEA countries and Switzerland.  
19 Latvia did not provide types of offences at premises checks. 

5 

 
 
 
the last report), recording equipment20 represent 12% of total offences (9% in the last report) 
and the lack/availability of records for other work constitute 10% (8% in the last report) of all 
detected infringements. These developments are presented in Figure 4 below. 

Figure 3: Categories of infringements at roadside and premises 2021-2022 

Categories of infringements at roadside and premises 2021-2022

12%

27%

10%

18%

14%

Breaks

Rest periods

Driving time

19%

Driving time records

Recording equipment

Lack of records

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

l

a
t
o
t

f
o
e
r
a
h
S

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

2011-2012 2013-2014 2015-2016 2017-2018 2019-2020 2021-2022

Breaks

Rest periods

Driving time

Driving time records

Recording equipment

Lack/availability of records for
other work

26%

24%

19%

17%

8%

6%

23%

25%

16%

17%

10%

8%

21%

24%

13%

24%

11%

7%

17%

23%

14%

27%

12%

6%

19%

23%

15%

26%

9%

8%

18%

19%

14%

27%

12%

10%

The average offence rate, which is calculated based on 100 working days checked at premises 
and roadside checks, increased from 2.1 in 2019-2020 to 2.7 in the current reporting period. 
Both the detection rates at the roadside and at premises increased compared to the last reporting 

20 Offences regarding recording equipment relate to the incorrect functioning and misuse or manipulation of the 
recording equipment.  

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
period.  The  detection  rate  at  premises  remains  higher  than  the  detection  rate  at  the 
roadside,  which  confirms  that  checks  at  the  premises  are  more  efficient  than  roadside 
controls.  

2.1 Offences detected at the roadside 

Around 1.53 million offences  were detected at the roadside in 2021-2022, which is about 
12%  more  compared  to  around  1.36  million  offences  in  2019-2020. The  EU  average  of 
offences detected at the roadside increased from 1.82 to 2.11 per 100 working days checked. 
On average, 51% of offences were found to be committed by domestic drivers, while the share 
of domestic vehicles among all vehicles stopped for controls was 64%. 

2.2 Offences detected at the premises 

The  number  of  offences  detected  at  the  premises  was  about  1.50  million  which  is  a 
significant increase compared to the last report (890,000). The EU average offence detection 
rate per 100 working days checked increased from 2.59 to 3.81, which represents an increase 
of 47% compared to 2019-2020. The average offence rate detected at premises per undertaking 
increased  from  15  offences  per  undertaking  in  2019-2020  to  more  than  17  offences  per 
undertaking.  

2.3 Number of enforcement officers and equipment to analyse tachographs 

In  the  current  reporting  period,  60,040  control  officers  (compared  to  54,679  in  2019-2020) 
were involved in checks throughout the EU.  

17,081 control officers were trained to analyse the digital tachograph records (against 20,058 
in 2019-2020). The units of equipment provided to control officers to analyse the tachograph 
records decreased from 13,031 in 2019-2020 to 8,336 in 2021-2022.  

This confirms a continuous trend of decreasing enforcement capacity in Member States.  

3.  Interpretation  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  561/2006  by  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the 

European Union 

The Court of Justice of the European Union provided interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 
by means of the rulings in Joined Cases C-870/19 and C-871/1921, in Cases C-428/1922, C-906/1923 and 
C-13/2124. In the latter case, the Court clarified Article 13(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 which 
authorises Member States to derogate from the applicable rules related to driving time, breaks and daily 
and  weekly rests  for  vehicles used  or hired,  without a  driver,  by  agricultural,  horticultural,  forestry, 
farming or fishery undertakings for carrying goods as part of their own entrepreneurial activity within 
a radius of up to 100 km from the base of the undertaking. First, the Court defined the notion of radius 
of up to 100 km from the base of the undertaking as referring to a straight line not exceeding 100 km, 
drawn on the map from that base and joining the base to any point in a circular geographical area 

21 Prefettura Ufficio territoriale del governo di Firenze v. MI (C-870/19), TB (C-871/19), ECLI:EU:C:2021:233. 
22 OL and Others v Rapidsped Fuvarozási és Szállítmányozási Zrt, ECLI:EU:C:2021:548.  
23 Criminal proceedings against FO, ECLI:EU:C:2021:715. 
24 Pricoforest SRL v Inspectoratul de Stat pentru Controlul în Transportul Rutier (ISCTR), ECLI:EU:C:2022:531. 

7 

 
 
 
surrounding that same base. It is therefore independent from the actual number of kilometres driven. 
Second, the Court made clear that, where vehicles carry goods not only within a radius of up 
to 100 km  from  the  base  of  the  undertaking  concerned,  but  also  outside  of  that  radius,  the 
exceptions  granted by Member States are applicable only  to  the carriage  of goods by those 
vehicles which does not occur outside of that radius.  

4.  Cooperation between Member States 

According to Article 5 of Directive 2006/22/EC, Member States are required to perform no less 
than  six  concerted  roadside  checks  per  year  with  at  least  one  other  Member  State.  The 
cooperation  between  Member  States  based  on  concerted  checks,  joint  training  initiatives  or 
exchanges of experience and information, plays a crucial role in stepping up enforcement in 
order to achieve the objectives of the social legislation in the road transport sector, i.e. improved 
working conditions, fair competition and improved road safety. Mobility Package I25, which 
started  applying  almost  fully  on  21  February  2022,  aims  to  promote  and  reinforce  the 
cooperation and mutual assistance between Member States and to ensure more effective and 
consistent enforcement of the rules in force. In addition, the European Labour Authority (ELA), 
which was established in 201926 with an overarching objective to ensure fair labour mobility 
in the internal market, continued its information, training and enforcement support activities in 
the  road  transport  area  during  the  reporting  period.  One  of  ELA’s  main  tasks  consists  in 
supporting  cooperation  between  Member  States  in  the  cross-border  enforcement  and 
facilitating joint inspections including in the field of EU social rules in the road transport sector.  

After the Covid-19 crisis, joint enforcement actions could take place in 2021-2022. However, 
as  in  previous  years,  not  all  Member  States  provided  information  on  the  exact  number  of 
concerted checks or did not report at all on whether they had undertaken concerted checks. Out 
of the 22 Member States that did provide information on checks, 10 Member States27 met the 
required number of concerted checks in the reporting period.  

Cooperation between Member States concerned mostly neighbouring Member States. Also, as 
for the last reporting period, most of the Member States indicated that the cooperation took 
place within the framework of the European Traffic Police Network (ROADPOL) and Euro 
Control Route (ECR), as well as the European Labour Authority (ELA).  

II. Overview of the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC 

According to Article 13 of Directive 2002/15/EC, Member States are obliged to report on the 
implementation  of  the Directive  every two  years, indicating the views of  representatives  of 
employees and of employers at national level. 

1.  The scope of Directive 2002/15/EC  

25 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2020:249:FULL&from=FR 
26  Regulation  (EU)  2019/1149 of  the European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20  June  2019  establishing  a 
European Labour Authority, amending Regulations (EC) No 883/2004, (EU) No 492/2011, and (EU) 2016/589 
and repealing Decision (EU) 2016/344 (OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, p. 21). 
27 Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Romania.  

8 

 
 
 
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. 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/EC28  on 
working time, which establishes basic requirements for the organisation of the working time of 
workers in all sectors. 

2.  Implementation aspects in Member States   

Some Member States and social partners reported some implementation issues. The German 
authorities  reported  that  employers  do  not  systematically  monitor  compliance  with  relevant 
health and safety rules applicable to mobile workers. There is also a general lack of knowledge 
of  the  legislation  on  driving  and  working  times  among  employers  and  on  how  those  rules 
interact. As observed, in most cases, working time for mobile workers is usually checked within 
the checks on driving time legislation and it is generally not entirely respected.  

Germany also noted that undertakings within the scope of Regulations (EC) No 561/2006 and 
(EU) No 165/2014 are in principle subject to more frequent controls than those falling within 
the scope of other legislation on the road transport sector.  

The Italian authorities consider that the European legislation has helped to protect health and 
safety  of  drivers  and  to  harmonise  the  conditions  of  competition  between  transport 
undertakings.  Some  undertakings  have  adopted  more  appropriate  programmes  for 
downloading, storing and checking data from digital tachographs. Some labour inspectorates 
also pointed out the importance of having appropriate technological tools to support inspection 
activities to curb the problem of scarce enforcement resources. In this sense, a dedicated IT 
application  used  in  Italy  has  proven  particularly  useful  to  control  road  transport  activities. 
Another positive aspect was the extension of the scope of the working time legislation to self-
employed workers. 

Some authorities also reported problems with some definitions in Directive 2002/15/EC. As it 
was reported by Germany in the previous report, further clarification is needed on how to deal 
with “waiting times at the ramp”. It was also found that unloading work is often not recorded 
as ‘other work’, but as rest time. In some cases, undertakings also distinguished between actual 
working  time  and  working  time  subject  to  remuneration,  so  that  time  was  recorded  and 
remunerated at a flat rate, but not as ‘other work’. 

Finally, some national authorities reported difficulties in controlling the working time of drivers 
involved in different types of carriage activities or conducting transport operations for several 
employers. A lack of inspectors for controlling working time was reported by some Member 
States.  

28 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). 

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In contrast, Lithuania informed that no significant problems were encountered in the exercise 
of controls under Directive 2002/15/EC.  

In  spite  of  these  shared  observations,  it  remains  difficult  to  identify  trends  and  outstanding 
issues at the EU level due to the significant number of incomplete submissions by Member 
States and different national practices. 

3.  Interpretation of Directive 2002/15/EC  

A few Member States29 reported judicial interpretation by national courts interpreting certain 
provisions of Directive 2002/15/EC in 2021-2022.  

Sweden updated on a court ruling in a case related to the demarcation between the Swedish 
Transport Agency’s responsibilities and those of social partners when collective agreements 
were signed derogating from parts of the national legal act transposing Directive 2002/15/EC30. 
Sweden also informed that few other legal disputes concerning the implementation of Directive 
2002/15/EC  had  been  settled  by  courts  of  first  instance  and  that  there  have  been  no  legal 
decisions by the supreme court. The same situation was reported by Estonia, which confirmed 
that, in general, the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC had created no problems in 2021-
2022 in Estonia.  

By contrast, Greece and Italy reported on supreme court judgments regarding some provisions 
of  Directive  2002/15/EC.  In  Germany,  in  its  order  of  19  May  2021,  the  BAG  ruled  on  the 
interpretation of Article 10 of Directive 2002/15/EC31.  

4.  Offences against working time rules 

Only twelve Member States32 provided some quantitative data on the offences detected. This 
number  is  slightly  higher  compared  to  the  previous  reporting  period  where  eleven  Member 
States33 provided this information. The insufficient number of contributions does not however 
allow for EU-wide conclusions to be drawn. 

Germany informed  that  there  are often violations  of the  maximum weekly working time  or 
failure to compensate for the maximum weekly working time. Most frequent breaches of the 
legislation reported are on breaks.  

29 Greece, Estonia, Germany, Italy and Sweden. Denmark reported that legal disputes concerning the 
implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC have been dealt by courts of first instance. There have been no legal 
decisions by the Estonian supreme court. 
30 The judgment became final in January 2023 stating that if a company is bound by a central collective agreement 
governing the question of total working time and night work, it is deemed to have been subject to this agreement 
and not to specific articles of the Road Working Time Act.  
31 Article 10 of Directive 2002/15/EC allows Member States to apply or introduce rules more favourable to the 
protection of the health and safety of persons performing mobile road transport activities.  
32 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia 
and Sweden.    
33 Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Spain. 

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Some Member States indicated that more frequent controls lead to increased knowledge of the 
rules among employers and drivers and to a behaviour correction.  

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

As required by Article 13 of Directive 2002/15/EC, eleven Member States34 clearly indicated 
that the two sides of the industry had been consulted for the purpose of this reporting exercise. 
This number is slightly higher compared to the last report35, but still shows that more than a 
half of Member States do not involve social partners in reporting on the implementation of the 
working time rules. Austria explained that social partners were not consulted, but that the draft 
annual  report  is  not  only  discussed  in  Parliament  (Social  Committee)  but  is  also  publicly 
available on the website of the Labour Inspectorate.  

In seven out of the eleven Member States36, the views of social partners were reflected in a 
separate section or paragraph.  

Opinions  from  social  partners  cannot  be  further  analysed,  as  they  do  not  constitute  a 
representative sample.  

III. Conclusions  

The general outcome of the analysis on the implementation and enforcement of the EU road 
transport social rules show that the overall performance as regards enforcement and compliance 
levels in 2021-2022 remain stable, with some positive evolutions, compared to 2019-2020.  

There was an increase in the total number of working days checked in the current reporting 
period, which reverses a decreasing trend observed in last years. Nevertheless, compared to the 
previous reporting periods, both the reported number of vehicles and the reported number of 
drivers  checked  at  the  roadside  throughout  the  EU  decreased.  An  increase  was  however 
observed for the number of transport undertakings checked at the premises. At the same time, 
the ratio of the working days checked at the roadside and at the premises is better balanced 
(53%  at  the  roadside  and  47%  at  the  premises  while  60%  and  40%  respectively  in  the  last 
report), which is a positive development bringing the ratio of these two types of controls closer 
to the legal requirements.  

The total number of offences detected at the premises and at the roadside increased compared 
to the last report, especially regarding offences detected at the premises. The detection rate at 
premises remains higher than the detection rate at the roadside, which confirms that targeted 
checks at the premises are more efficient than random roadside controls. Moreover, the average 
detection rate at premises increased compared to the last reporting period.    

34 Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.    
35 Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. 
36 France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.  

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Infringement detection rates vary significantly throughout the EU (from 0.08 to 12.40). This 
fact indicates that it is imperative to better target checks. The access to data, such as risk rating, 
at the roadside has high importance notably to better target controls and to reduce unnecessary 
‘clean’ checks, i.e. checks where no infringements are detected. The access to the risk rating 
data by roadside inspectors is made obligatory in line with new requirements introduced by 
Mobility Package I.  

As  regards  concerted  and  joint  checks  among  Member  States,  it  clearly  appears  that  they 
contribute  to  knowledge-sharing,  and  to  establishing  a  harmonised  approach  to  the 
understanding and enforcement of EU rules in force. Therefore, the Commission encourages 
the Member States to further strengthen their efforts in improving cooperation, through joint 
inspections  and  concerted  checks,  as  well  as  to  benefit  from  the  assistance  offered  by  the 
European Labour Authority. The Commission will pay particular attention to joint enforcement 
actions in the next period. 

The shares of the different types of infringements remain similar to the last reporting period. 
At the premises, offences related to the lack of driving time records amount to nearly one third 
of all detected offences indicating difficulties with storing the relevant data appropriately by 
undertakings. In contrast, offences related to breaks, rest periods and driving times amount to 
almost half of all detected offences at the roadside.   

As regards the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC, the lack of comparable quantitative 
data  and  qualitative  information  in  many  national  reports  makes  an  in-depth  assessment 
difficult. The Commission would like to stress the importance of this reporting exercise and 
reminds that a legal action can be launched against Member States failing to comply with the 
requirement  to  submit  the  information  as  required  by  Article  17  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 
561/2006.  

The Commission observes that the overall enforcement and compliance levels, following the 
application of Mobility Package I, improved in the current reporting periods.  An implementing 
act  adopted  by  the  Commission  on  a  harmonised  risk  rating  formula37  allows  enforcers  to 
recognise  quickly  the  profile  of  the  company  they  intend  to  check  and  to  know  whether  a 
company has a low risk rating (due to low-level of law breaches) or a high risk rating (high-
level  of  law  breaches).  In  addition,  a  remote  early  detection  of  possible  manipulation  and 
misuse of digital tachograph, gives enforcers a possibility to select which vehicles to control. 
The Commission will continue investigating how digitalisation and automation technologies 
could help to make controls of compliance smarter (more effective, efficient, paperless, based 
on access to and exchange of digital data). 

The Commission insists on the importance of the submission by Member States of full sets of 
data on the implementation of the social rules relating to road transport as required by Article 
13  of  Directive  2002/15/EC,  Article  10g  of  Council  Directive  96/53/EC  and  Article  17  of 

37 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/695 of 2 May 2022 laying down rules for the application of 
Directive  2006/22/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  as  regards  the  common  formula  for 
calculating the risk rating of transport undertakings (OJ L 129, 3.5.2022, p. 33).  

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Regulation  (EC)  No  561/2006.  The  Commission  will  strengthen  the  monitoring  of  the 
fulfilment of the reporting obligations by Member States. At the same time, the Commission 
will explore technical possibilities to make the reporting process smarter and easier for Member 
States.  

Moreover, the Commission  will continue working towards improving  the monitoring of the 
implementation  and  enforcement  of  the  social  rules  in  road  transport  with  the  assistance  of 
Member States. It calls on Member States to include the views of both sides of industry on the 
implementation of the working time rules, as required by Directive 2002/15/EC.  

13