The Council reached, in a public deliberation, a general approach on a proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities.
When adopting Directive 2002/15/EC, the Council and the European Parliament agreed that it would in principle apply to all self-employed drivers from 23 March 2009 and the Commission was requested to present both institutions with a report at the latest two years before that date, followed by a legislative proposal. The Commission accordingly presented its proposal to amend Directive 2002/15/EC in October 2008.
The text approved by the Council, in line with the principles of the Commission proposal, foresees that self-employed workers are to be excluded from the scope of the Directive. However, this should be without prejudice to the right of Member States to include those drivers and apply the provisions of Directive 2002/15/EC to them.
In March 2009, the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee rejected the Commission's proposal. It will be submitted for vote in a plenary session in May 2009.