PURPOSE: to improve the EU-wide standard of initial
qualification and periodic training for drivers of certain road
vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European
Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: around 33% of all journeys made by heavy
goods vehicles in the EU cross borders between Member States.
Around 8 % of cross-border transport in the EU involves busses or
coaches.
Directive
2003/59/EC lays down the initial qualification and periodic
training requirements for professional drivers of trucks and buses,
thus improving safety on European roads.
Member States have been given significant flexibility
in how they implement the Directive, for example on the specific
content of driver training and on administrative procedures and the
structure of the training system.
Having evaluated the implementation of the Directive,
the Commission identified a number of
shortcomings:
- difficulties and legal uncertainty in the
interpretation of exemptions;
- the content of the training, which was found to
be only partially relevant for drivers' needs;
- difficulties for drivers in obtaining mutual
recognition of completed or partially completed training undergone
in another Member State;
- inconsistencies of minimum age requirements
between Directive 2003/59/EC and Directive
2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council.
The objective of the proposal is to deal appropriately
with the identified shortcomings. The revision of Directive
2003/59/EC would ensure the application of appropriate minimum
training requirements and the recognition of training throughout
the EU. It would remedy the current problem of mutual recognition
which may affect some 46 700 drivers (2016).
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the preferred solution to ensure
mutual recognition involves issuing driver qualification cards to
foreigners.
The preferred solution for addressing the training
content is to strengthen content on road safety and fuel efficiency
in the training courses and make it clear that it is possible to
use e-learning/blended learning in the training courses.
CONTENT: the proposal amending Directive 2003/59/EC
aims essentially to:
- clarify exemptions: the
Directive shall not apply to: (i) vehicles used by, or under the
control of, the armed forces, civil defence, the fire service and
forces responsible for maintaining public order when the carriage
is undertaken as a consequence of the tasks assigned to those
services; (ii) vehicles used in states of emergency or assigned to
rescue missions; (iii) vehicles used for driving instruction and
examination for any person wishing to obtain a driving licence;
(iv) 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;
- ensure that all holders of a CPC are issued either
with mutually recognised code 95 on their driving licence,
or with a mutually recognised driver qualification
card;
- ensure periodic training ensure at least safety
objectives. Periodic training enables holders of a CPC to update
the knowledge which is essential for their work, with specific
emphasis on road safety and the rationalisation of fuel
consumption;
- offer Member States the possibility to: (i) improve
and modernise training practices with the use of ICT tools, such as
e-learning and blended learning, for part of the training,
while ensuring the quality of the training; (ii) combine different
types of relevant training, such as training on the transport of
dangerous goods, on disability awareness or on animal transport,
with the training provided for in Directive 2003/59/EC;
- provide a clear derogation in Directive
2006/126/EC, stipulating that driving licences may be issued at
the minimum ages provided for in Directive
2003/59/EC.