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EU set to hammer out tachograph compromise

[ April 2, 2013   //   Chris ]

What is described as a “final session” of negotiations between the European Parliament, European Council and the Council of Ministers on the new digital tachograph regulation has been scheduled for 10 April. It appears that a compromise has been reached on amendments to the rules on the driving and break times of professional drivers, while the Parliament appears to have accepted that tachographs will only apply to trucks of 3.5 tonnes and over, rather than 2.8 tonnes.

Member states are resisting calls for new tachographs to be compulsorily satellite-equipped, on cost grounds, while the Parliament is calling for exemptions to be maintained for operations within a 100km radius of a company’s base where the company’s main business is not transport.

The Council is also calling for an arrangement whereby member states will be able to issue temporary drivers’ cards to non-EU resident drivers, although the Parliament is opposed to this on the grounds that it would distort competition.

Tags: tachograph