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EU Council adopts positions for safer road traffic in the EU

Dec 4, 2023 , ,

Brussels, 4 December 2023

To ensure safer road traffic across Europe, the Council adopted today its common positions (general approaches) on two Commission proposals forming part of the so-called ‘road safety’ legislative package, namely amending or repealing:

  • the 2006 and 2022 directives, as well as the 2012 and 2018 regulations on driving licences
  • the 2015 directive on cross-border exchange of information on road-safety-related traffic offences

This is a paradigm shift for the driving licences regime in Europe. Together with strengthening mechanisms for mutual assistance between Member States to facilitate the identification of the concerned person and the enforcement of fines the new legislation will improve safety on European motorways and guarantee safer residential areas across the EU.

Óscar Puente, Spanish minister of transport and sustainable mobility

Directive on driving licences

The Commission’s proposal aims to improve road safety and to facilitate the free movement of citizens within the EU. The proposal should be seen as a complete overhaul of the existing directive since the last major reform took place in 2006 and had to be transposed by member states until 2013. The proposal introduces four main new elements in the current regime:

  • a European scheme for novice drivers allowing for accompanied driving after obtaining a licence at the age of 17
  • stricter conditions for novice drivers during their first 2 years (or more depending on member state rules) of driving
  • a mobile driving licence as part of the European digital identity wallet, and
  • the use of self-assessments as a filter towards medical examination of the driver’s fitness.

The general thrust of the Commission’s proposal was retained in the Council’s common position. The Council introduced, however, several changes to the Commission proposal, which can be summarised as follows:

  • to maintain voluntary the shortening of validity periods for driving licences of older people
  • a clearer outline of the screening of the physical and mental fitness to drive prior to the issuance and renewal of driving licences, based on different systems developed in the member states
  • alignment of the technical elements for mobile driving licences with the revision of the digital identity (eIDAS) regulation and better link between the adoption of implementing acts and member states’ obligation on implementation
  • more detailed guidance for the evaluation by the Commission of the road safety framework of third countries
  • refinement of the requirements for the accompanying person in the accompanied driving scheme which will be compulsory only for category B licence
  • reformulation of the conditions for the probationary period in view of member states’ competences and established practices
  • possibility for the citizen to have a theoretical exam, under certain conditions, in the member state of citizenship when different from the member state of residence, but no such option for the practical test.
Directive on cross-border exchange of information on road-safety-related traffic offences

The proposal aims to ensure that non-resident drivers respect the traffic rules when driving in other member states.

The general thrust of the Commission’s proposal was retained by the Council. The Council introduced, however, several changes to the proposal, mainly aiming to clarify the scope and the definitions of the legal act. This entails amongst others:

  • introducing the concept of the ‘concerned person’ and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the national contact points and the competent authorities
  • more offences added to the Commission’s proposal, such as cases of not respecting vehicle access restrictions or rules at a railway level-crossing, as well as hit-and-run cases
  • further clarification of the different procedures related to accessing vehicle registration data and the different options for competent authorities to ask mutual assistance with a view to making sure that the concerned person is identified, that the traffic offence notice arrives to the right place and to better enforce road traffic fines.
  • all necessary safeguards put in place to protect the fundamental rights of the driver or any other concerned person.
Next steps

Following today’s adoption of the Council’s negotiating mandates (general approaches), the incoming presidency is enabled to enter talks with the European Parliament (‘trilogues’) on these key legislative files.

Background information

In its EU road safety policy framework 2021-2030, the Commission recommitted to the ambitious aim to get close to zero deaths and zero serious injuries on EU roads by 2050 (“Vision Zero”), as well as to the medium-term goal to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030. However, road fatalities were up 4% last year from 2021, according to latest Commission data. This is still 9 % below pre-pandemic level, but the pace of improvement is not sufficient to reach the above-mentioned goals.

Both proposals form part of the ‘road safety package’, adopted by the Commission on 1 March 2023, which also comprises a new proposal on driver disqualifications, where a disqualification in a member state leads to follow-up action of the member state which issued the driving licence.

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Source – EU Council

Road safety: EU Council adopts position on revised rules for bus drivers

 

Brussels, 4 December 2023

To improve road safety and working conditions for drivers providing occasional bus and coach services in Europe, the Council adopted its common position (general approach) on the Commission’s proposal for a revision of the 2006 rules on driving times and rest periods in the occasional passenger transport sector.

Today, we took another step to improve road safety in the EU. Once adopted, the new rules on minimum breaks and rest periods for bus drivers will ensure better working conditions for them and guarantee safer road trips for tourists across Europe.

Óscar Puente, Spanish minister of transport and sustainable mobility

Main objectives of the proposal

The Commission’s proposal consists of targeted amendments to the 2006 regulation aiming to introduce three elements of flexibility into break and rest time rules for professional drivers engaged in occasional passenger transport, such as tour buses, reflecting their special work patterns, while preserving the rules’ effectiveness in preventing driver fatigue.

The general thrust of the proposal was retained by the member states since all three elements of flexibility suggested by the Commission are included in the Council’s common position.

Key elements of the Council’s position

However, based on numerous requests by member states relating to the scope and safeguards of specific rest rules, and to corresponding control provisions, the Council amended some aspects of the Commission’s proposal. The key elements of the Council’s common position are as follows:

  • the flexibility to replace the required minimum rest period of 45 minutes with breaks of at least 15 minutes each (adding at least 45 minutes), spread over the 4.5 hours driving period, provided that the total accumulated driving time for that day has not exceeded 7 hours
  • the flexibility to postpone the daily rest period by 1 hour, provided that the total accumulated driving time for that day has not exceeded 7 hours, and that this option is exercised once during a journey with a duration of at least 6 days, or twice during a journey of at least 8 days
  • the flexibility to postpone the weekly rest period for up to 12 consecutive days following a previous regular weekly rest period, provided that the service lasts at least 24 consecutive hours; this option, already used in international services, could now be applied to domestic services as well.
  • on control provisions, the Council’s text provides that the required documentation for using the derogations is a single one, namely a journey form on board
  • the documentation on board extends to previous trips during a certain period of time, for which copies need to be carried on board, in paper or electronic form
  • the Commission will amend the tachograph specifications so that the type of passenger transport can be read from the machine and the requirement to carry documents for previous trips on board will be discontinued when the tachograph is in use.

The above mentioned approach on supervision is practical, aligned with similar rules on manual documentation, and favours technical support of the tachograph in the future.

Next steps

Following today’s adoption of the Council’s negotiating mandate (general approach), the incoming presidency can enter talks with the European Parliament (‘trilogues’) on this file.

Background information

During the adoption of ‘Mobility Package I’ in 2020, the European Commission committed to evaluating the appropriateness of the rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers engaged in occasional road passenger transport (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006). Despite the objective differences in the working environment, the social provisions adopted in 2020 make no distinction between freight and passenger transport, nor between regular and occasional services.

Rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods in road transport have been a topic of debate since 1969. Specific rules for passenger services were introduced by the Council in 1985, but were later abolished in 2006, and only partly re-introduced in 2009 (for international occasional passenger services). The scope of this proposal, submitted by the Commission on 24 May 2023, is limited to national and international occasional passenger services, which are the most relevant to tourism. The proposal intends to introduce three flexibility elements into the breaks and rest time rules of drivers engaged in occasional passenger transport. The proposal concerns roughly 3% of passenger transport by bus at EU level.

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Source – EU Council

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