The Commission presents a report on the implementation 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. The 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. Directive 2002/15/EC (the Road Transport Working Time Directive) 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 Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 ( the Driving Time Regulation ).

Quality of national reports

The Commission cautions that only a few Member States provided statistical data on controls and their outcomes as regards the Road Transport Working Time Directive. No reports were received from Belgium Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands and Spain. The Commission states that it 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 format.

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.

Several Member States 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. 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. 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.

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.

Offences against working time rules

Only 8 Member States (Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Poland) 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.

Some Member States indicated that they ordered rectification when an offence is first detected. 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.

Lastly, the Commission notes that only a few Member States provided views of social partners as part of this report. It reminds Member States that Directive 2002/15/EC requires them to include the views of both sides of industry as part of the reporting exercise.

COM(2018)0698
EUR-Lex

This report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council concerns on the implementation in 2013-2014 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.

This is the 28th report of the Commission on the implementation of social legislation in the field of road transport. It reviews the implementation by Member States of the four interrelated legislative acts establishing social rules in road transport and their enforcement regime. These legislative acts are:

1. Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 , which establishes rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for professional drivers;

2. Directive 2006/22/EC , which determines minimum requirements for enforcement of these rules;

3. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on recording equipment, i.e. main tool to control the drivers' compliance with social rules;

4. this Directive 2002/15/EC , which sets out complementary provisions on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities.

The Commission is currently evaluating the Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 and intends to table a proposal for a targeted revision in 2017 as part of the Road Initiative. 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 engaged in the carriage of goods or passengers.

Period covered by the report : this report covers the period of 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014. Its aim is to provide an overview of how Member States have implemented the above-mentioned set of legislative acts and to highlight the key challenges in enforcement and application of the rules in force. The report contains both quantitative and qualitative data on checks carried out at roadside and premises, offences detected as well as information on the implementation of Road Transport Working Time Directive .

Main findings :

· the majority of Member States have met the minimum threshold of working days checked required by Directive 2006/22/EC and have often exceeded it significantly. However, a few of them have not met this minimum threshold. Furthermore, only half of the Member States have complied with the minimum number of concerted checks, which shows a deterioration in the number of international initiatives compared to the previous period. Cooperation takes place mainly between neighbouring Member States and is complemented by actions undertaken within the framework of Euro Contrôle Route (ECR) which has established cooperation on a larger scale. In order to create a level playing field in the transport sector, it is necessary to improve and align the enforcement of transport-related social legislation across the EU. Therefore, the Commission envisages taking measures aiming at strengthening the enforcement of the social rules in road transport ;

· some Member States have not met the target of having at least 50% of the total working days checked at premises and the vast majority of inspections took place on the road. The Commission will monitor developments in this respect. In the absence of improvements in the various Member States during the next reporting period, the Commission will launch a formal enquiry with those Member States failing to comply with the requirements for checks at premises;

· according to Directive 2006/22/EC, the threshold of minimum checks of number of days worked by drivers of vehicles should be raised to 4% once 90% of all vehicles checked are equipped with a digital tachograph. In this reporting period 64% vehicles checked at roadside were equipped with the digital tachograph . Hence, there is no base for raising the minimum threshold of checks to 4% of days worked by drivers.

The report also stressed that:

· the national authorities should ensure that checks are carried out without discrimination on the basis of nationality of drivers/Member State of registration of vehicles;

· the downward trend in the number of offences that began to develop during 2011-2012 has been maintained;

· the analysis of detection rates at roadside and at premises indicates that checks at premises remain more efficient than ad-hoc roadside controls. Discrepancies in detection rates between Member States reveal that the European Union is far from establishing a harmonised enforcement area because of diverging enforcement resources and practices in controlling compliance with road transport legislation;

· there has been a notable increase in the number of infringements involving the manipulation of recording equipment. Therefore, the appropriate enforcement techniques, equipment, training of control officers , etc. enabling targeted controls and detecting manipulation devices and fraud became more needed than ever . In order to address this issue, the Commission is preparing an implementing act specifying the content of initial and continuing training for control officers.

COM(2017)0117
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EUR-Lex
SWD(2017)0100

The Commission presented its report on application of Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities (27th report from the Commission on the implementation of the social legislation relating to road transport).

This report covers the 2011-2012 timeframe. It is based mainly on the national reports, for which the submission deadline expired on 30 September 2013. Its aim is to provide an overview of how Member States have implemented the above-mentioned set of legislative acts and to highlight the key challenges in enforcement and application of the rules in force. The report contains both quantitative and qualitative data on checks carried out at roadside and premises, offences detected as well as information on the implementation of Road Transport Working Time Directive. The Commission report is complemented by a Commission Staff Working Document that contains supplementary information on penalties, cooperation between Member States, comments from enforcement authorities and detailed statistical data.

State of transposition of Directive 2002/15/EC : the Directive lays down specific provisions on working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities. During this reporting period, many Member States informed on amendments of their legislative framework in order to include self-employed drivers in its scope; namely Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta (on-going), Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom.

As regards collective agreements, divergent systems are observed in the European Union. They range from no collective agreements concluded (for example Malta) to established collective agreements that can provide for derogation to the working time limit (for example Italy).

Directive 2002/15/EC was perceived as a good set of arrangements that helped to deal with definition of working time and its limits . However, Greece pointed out that certain provisions of this Directive overlap with those of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 , which is a source of problems for businesses and workers. Spain identified issues when implementing rules on calculating periods of availability of drivers. The same matter was referred to by the Czech Republic. There is a confusion regarding the application of the working time provision, in particular when drivers spend time waiting between two runs and these times are known in advance.

In general, to facilitate practical implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC, Ireland and Sweden developed and distributed guidance material for operators on how to comply with the provisions of this Directive.

Stakeholders' views on implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC : sixteen Member States confirmed that stakeholders had been consulted, as required by Directive 2002/15/EC, which marks an improvement as compared to the reporting period of 2007-2008. In general, there was a consensus among employers and employees that Directive 2002/15/EC contributed to health and safety protection of drivers. In Ireland, the employers expressed an opinion that limitations on working time improved the attractiveness of the driving profession. Some national social partners voiced their concerns as to the lack of consistency of enforcement and application of the rules in force and expressed the need for clarification of some specific aspects, such as compensation for night work.

Other conclusions drawn from the implementation : the report shows that certain improvements in the enforcement and implementation of the legislation on social rules have been observed. On average, the total number of working days checked in the EU increased by 8.7% from almost 146 million to around 158.6 million working days checked while the minimum threshold of controls of 3% remained unchanged. This rise confirms the general commitment among Member States to enhance the controls of compliance with the social rules in road transport .

However, most Member States failed to reach the threshold of having at least 50% of the total working days checked at premises and the vast majority of checks took place at the roadside. The Commission will monitor developments in this field. Should there be no improvements observed in the next reporting period 2013-2014 in respective Member States the Commission will launch an official enquiry with those Member States failing to comply with the requirement for checks at premises.

Offences : after a significant and constant growth of offences reported over the previous 6 years at European level, which is tied with increases of minimum working days to be checked, there is a reversed tendency for the current reporting period which marked a decrease versus the last period in the number of offences detected. This change seen together with the increase of the number of working days checked could be interpreted as an improved compliance with the provisions of social legislation thanks to well-established enforcement practices and greater awareness of social rules among drivers.

Health and safety of workers : the national reports on implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC, due to their incompleteness do not allow for in-depth analysis of impacts of this legislative act on health and safety of drivers or on road safety. Many Member States included self-employed drivers in the scope of their legislative frameworks even though this is sometimes perceived as causing enforcement issues.

To assess other important aspects of the implementation of the road transport social rules, including application of the European Court of Justice jurisprudence, implementation of exceptions and penalties in the light of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the Commission will launch a comprehensive evaluation of the functioning of the social legislation in road transport.

COM(2014)0709
EUR-Lex

EUR-Lex
SWD(2014)0342

The Commission presents a report on the implementation of four interrelated and complementary legislative acts establishing social rules in road transport. These four legislative acts are: (i) Regulation (EC) No 561/20061, which establishes rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for professional drivers; (ii) Directive 2006/22/EC2, which determines minimum requirements for enforcement of these rules; (iii) Regulation (EEC) No 3821/853 on recording equipment; and (iv) Directive 2002/15/EC4, which sets out complementary provisions on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities.

The report covers the two-year period 2009-2010. The report is of a technical nature and its primary aim is to provide a general overview of how Member States have enforced the applicable social rules. Even though the information provided to the Commission services does not allow for in-depth analysis of impacts of the legislation on health and safety of drivers or on road safety, a general conclusion could be drawn that better enforcement of and compliance with the social rules can indirectly contribute to well-being of drivers and to improving road safety.

The detailed observations show two main types of improvements in implementation of the legislation:

improvements in enforcement by Member States, in particular as regards reaching the thresholds set in the legislation, data collection and reporting discipline; improvements in application of the rules by professional drivers and transport undertakings.

During the reporting period 2009-2010, Member States increased the number of checks performed. All except for five Member States reached or even exceeded the required minimum number of checks. However, the vast majority of checks took place at the roadside and most Member States failed to reach the threshold of having at least 50 % of the total working days checked at premises.

The frequency of offences detected has decreased but the types of offences detected are more or less the same as compared to 2007-2008. Offences against breaks (29%) and rest periods (24%) are still the ones most frequently detected, followed by driving time (19%). There are still considerable differences in the detection rate among the Member States. It is important to ensure that this is not due to incorrect implementation or interpretation of the rules.

National authorities should ensure that checks are being performed without discrimination on the basis of the nationality of the drivers/country of registration of vehicles. Member States should thoroughly examine their data and instruct their control authorities accordingly in order to avoid unequal treatment of non-nationals.

EUR-Lex
SWD(2012)0270

The Commission presents a Staff Working Document which reports on the implementation in 2007-2008 of four complementary legislative acts establishing social rules in road transport. They are: i) Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 which establishes rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for professional drivers; ii) Directive 2006/22/EC, which determines minimum requirements for enforcement of these rules; iii) Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on recording equipment and iv) Directive 2002/15/EC (the Working Time Directive).

The report covers the two-year period 2007-2008 and is based on the information submitted by Member States.

Much of the report covers certain aspects of the application of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 with regard to the rules on driving time and enforcement of compliance with these rules. It provides a general overview of the way in which Member States have implemented the driving time rules. The report also deals with the practical implementation of the Working Time Directive 2002/15/EC on the basis of the information provided by Member States.

SEC(2011)0052
EUR-Lex

This is the first report presented by the Commission concerning the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of working time of mobile workers in road transport in the Member States. The Directive specifies the provisions for working time, breaks and night work. Its objectives are to improve road safety, prevent the distortion of competition and guarantee the safety and health of the mobile workers . This Directive thus complements the provisions of Regulation (EC) 561/2006 on driving times and rest periods that are of direct influence on road safety, and competition, as they specify the maximum driving time allowed.

Despite the provision of Article 13 of the Directive, which obliges Member States to submit their reports for the years 2005 and 2006 by 30 September 2007, the Commission had received only two national reports in due time. The Commission therefore launched infringement procedures for non-compliance with their respective obligations against a majority of the Member States . One of the reasons for this unsatisfactory situation was that many Member States had a significant delay concerning the notification of the transposition of the Directive itself into national legislation.

The reports were in most cases complete and uniform, but they lacked information on exact numbers of checks dedicated to Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of working time for mobile workers in road transport and on offences detected. This important information should be made available in order to be able to asses the effectiveness of national implementation measures.

Main conclusions : having received the reports from the Member States, it is difficult to assess whether the Directive had an effect on the respect of social rules in road transport. This is partly caused by the low compliance by Member States with their obligation to transpose the Directive into national law within the prescribed timeframe , and to communicate this legislation to the Commission. Efforts by the Member States are needed to improve the assessment of the effectiveness of the measures taken by the Member States to implement the Directive.

Moreover, it seems to be of potential benefit for Member States to increase their cooperation in exchange of information on best enforcement practices .

All of the reports should have included information concerning opinions of the two sides of the industry on the implementation of Directive 2002/15/EC as requested by the Directive.

Most Member States did not comment on the level of compliance with the provisions of the Directive and transposing national legislation by drivers and employers. However, from the information received, the Commission assumes that the provisions of the Directive are not thoroughly respected .

Lastly, a few Member States commented on the question of the scope of the Directive and the inclusion of self-employed drivers.

COM(2009)0415
EUR-Lex

This Commission Staff Working Document accompanies the report from the Commission on the implementation in 2005-2006 of Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities.

Among the Member States that submitted their reports, substantiated data on the actual effects of the Directive were almost not available. This might be owed to the fact that it only came into force in March 2005 and most Member States only transposed after this date.

In many cases, the conclusions drawn by Member States on the effects of the Directive were reduced to expressions of expectation. Whereas some Member States, like Greece, expect it to make a valuable contribution, others, such as Germany, indicated that its importance could be minor in comparison to Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 on driving times and rest periods.

Some Member States made reference to the question of whether or not to include self-employed or at least false-self employed drivers into the scope of the Directive . Only one Member State wanted the current Directive to remain unchanged, with the effect that all self-employed drivers are included into its scope as from 23 March 2009.

Social partners, even though they were not negative in most cases, have drawn the attention to elements of concern. In some Member States, employers expressed their concern that the Directive might lead to a reduction of the working hours permitted, which could cause a loss of income. Moreover, some employees' organisations indicated that they were unhappy with the national transposition legislation, as they claimed that Member States did not make use of the possibilities offered by the Directive. In Spain, the serious disagreement between the two sides of the industry led to a considerable delay in Spain's efforts to transpose the Directive into national law.

Lastly, social partners in the Member States did not very often refer to the question of the scope of the Directive. Nevertheless, from the comments received the conclusion can be drawn that an inclusion of false-self employed drivers would be favoured with a view to fair competition in the road transport sector.

SEC(2009)1099
EUR-Lex

Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities came into force in March 2002. Member States have had three years to implement the provisions in relation to mobile workers. The Directive will apply to self-employed drivers as from March 2009. The Directive, however, requires the Commission to prepare a report on the Directive by March 2007 – i.e. two years before the Directive’s provisions apply to self-employed drivers. The report should analyses the consequences of excluding self-employed drivers from the Directives’ scope and what impact (if any) this has had on road safety, competition and the structure of the profession. In addition, the Commission is expected to assess the consequences of the Directive’s night work provisions. In short, this report fulfils several objectives: it serves to provide an overview of the current state of implementation; it addresses the potential consequences of excluding self-employed drivers from the scope of the Directive and it assesses the consequences of the Directive’s night time provisions.

Implementation in the Member States: the report finds that a majority of Member States did not manage to transpose the Directive into national law within the three year transitional period provided. In May 2005 the Commission was forced to open infringements proceedings against eleven Member States. Since then the number of Member States not communicating all their transposing measures has been reduced to four. The Commission is, therefore, not yet in a position to issue its first biennial report, due out in March 2007.

Consequences of excluding self-employed drivers : extensive research on working long hours and road safety, produced for the Commission, shows that excessive working hours is a major contributory factor to fatigue and hence to falling asleep at the wheel. Fatigue and its consequences for road safety can affect a driver, whether he be self-employed or a mobile worker. The consultants report confirmed that self-employed drivers work longer than mobile road transport workers. Other factors contributing to fatigue – stress, health problems and a lack of support were more prevalent amongst self employed drivers than mobile drivers. The inclusion of the self-employed in the Directive may have a positive effect on road safety albeit that the Commission accepts that is hard to quantify. Other factors such as age and fatigue may play an equally important role in promoting fatigue. The Commission also accepts that the new driving and rest time rules combined with stricter enforcement will play an equally valid role in minimising fatigue and stress.

In terms of the social impact , the Commission acknowledges that the balance of overall disadvantages and advantages of exclusion or inclusion is mixed. An increase of working hours for self-employed drivers (made possible by exclusion form the Directive) might be considered undesirable on health and safety grounds. On the other hand, inclusion may impose greater emotional stress and financial difficulty for the self-employed, be difficult to enforce, and ultimately be ineffective. To address this question a further impact assessment may be needed prior to any legislative proposal (see below). In any case, in a largely fragmented industry, it appears that exclusion of the self-employed from the scope of the Directive will tend to reinforce current trends – i.e. allow self-employed drivers to maintain their competitive edge within the industry. Addressing the issue of “false” self-employed drivers, therefore, must counteract any artificial fragmentation.

Night work: while there appears to be no demand to adjust the current provisions, the issue of enforcement is pertinent. The Commission will examine this matter further – together with the Member States and interest parties in a bid to assess how respect for night time rules can be applied.

Impact assessment: The Commission will now carry out a formal impact assessment in view of a legislative proposal modifying the Directive. The Commission will consult with the Member States and the social partners at a European level to examine further arrangements. The impact assessment will consider: i) the new Regulation on driving times and rest periods, the new enforcement Directive and the introduction of the digital tachographs; ii) encouraging active enforcement of enhanced operator conditions through a new proposal on admission to the occupation that is to be adopted in 2007 (this should help address the issue of “false” self-employed; and iii) focusing on a correct and enforceable application by the Member States of the Directive’s definition of mobile workers, which encompasses false self-employed drivers.

The Commission will also consider the continued exclusion of the genuine self-employed from the sectoral working time rules while at the same time ensuring a rigorous interpretation and implementation of the definition “self-employed” driver contained in the Directive so that the working time rules apply to the “false self-employed”.

COM(2007)0266
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Directive 2002/15
OJ L 080 23.03.2002, p. 0035-0039

T5-0027/2002
OJ C 284 21.11.2002, p. 0023-0092 E

T5-0027/2002

A5-0013/2002

A5-0013/2002

3676/2001

3676/2001

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COM(2001)0415

T5-0332/2001
OJ C 053 28.02.2002, p. 0238-0297 E

T5-0332/2001

Debate in Parliament

A5-0196/2001

A5-0196/2001

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SEC(2001)0584

05919/1/2001
OJ C 142 15.05.2001, p. 0024

05919/1/2001

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OJ C 120 24.04.2001, p. 0284 E
COM(2000)0754

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COM(2000)0754

2204

OJ C 279 01.10.1999, p. 0252-0270
T4-0416/1999

T4-0416/1999

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SEC(1999)0581

OJ C 219 30.07.1999, p. 0174-0240
T4-0304/1999

T4-0304/1999

Debate in Parliament

A4-0187/1999
OJ C 219 30.07.1999, p. 0008

A4-0187/1999

2169

CES0332/1999
OJ C 318 18.05.1999, p. 0033

2164

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COM(1998)0662

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COM(1998)0662