Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 of 20 December 1985 on the harmonization of certain social legislation relating to road transport
Modified by
Directive 2003/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 15 July 2003on the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers, amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 and Council Directive 91/439/EEC and repealing Council Directive 76/914/EEC, 32003L0059, September 10, 2003
Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 15 March 2006on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85(Text with EEA relevance), 32006R0561, April 11, 2006
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85of 20 December 1985on the harmonization of certain social legislation relating to road transportTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 75 thereof;Having regard to the Council Decision of 13 May 1965 on the harmonization of certain provisions affecting competition in transport by rail, road and inland waterwayOJ No 88, 24.5.1965, p. 1500/65., and in particular Section III thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the CommissionOJ No C 100, 12.4.1984, p. 3, and OJ No C 223, 3.9.1985, p. 5.,Having regard to the opinion of the European ParliamentOJ No C 122, 20.5.1985, p. 168.,Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ No C 104, 25.4.1985, p. 4, and OJ No C 303, 25.11.1985, p. 29.,Whereas in the field of road transport, Community social legislation is set out in Regulation (EEC) No 543/69OJ No L 77, 29.3.1969, p. 49. as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2829/77OJ No L 334, 24.12.1977, p. 1.; whereas that legislation aims at the harmonization of conditions of competition between methods of inland transport, especially with regard to the road sector and the improvement of working conditions and road safety; whereas progress made in these fields must be safeguarded and extended; whereas, however, it is necessary to make the provisions of the said Regulation more flexible without undermining their objectives;Whereas, taking into account the amendments set out hereinafter, in order to clarify matters, all the relevant provisions should be brought together in a single text, and in consequence thereof, Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 should be repealed; whereas, however, the exemptions set out in Article 4 for certain vehicles and the provisions of Article 15 for certain passenger transport operations should be maintained in force for a certain time;Whereas the provisions of this Regulation dealing with working conditions cannot be allowed to prejudice the right of the two sides of industry to lay down, by collective bargaining or otherwise, provisions more favourable to workers; whereas, in order not only to promote social progress but also to improve road safety, each Member State must retain the right to adopt certain appropriate measures;Whereas in view of the fall in the number of drivers’ mates and conductors it is no longer necessary to regulate the rest periods of crew members other than the driver;Whereas the replacement of the flexible week by a fixed week would make it easier for drivers to organize their work and improve checking;Whereas a system should be defined to apply to international road transport operations to or from a third country or between two countries in transit through the territory of a Member State; whereas the provisions of the European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport (AETR) of 1 July 1970 should apply to those transport operations; whereas in the case of vehicles registered in a State which is not a Contracting Party to AETR, those provisions will only apply to that part of the journey effected within the Community;Whereas, since the subject matter of the AETR Agreement falls within the scope of this Regulation, the power to negotiate and conclude the Agreement lies with the Community; whereas, however, the particular circumstances in which the AETR negotiations took place warrant, by way of exception, a procedure whereby the Member States of the Community individually deposit the instruments of ratification or accession in a concerted action but nonetheless act in the interest and on behalf of the Community;Whereas, in order to ensure the supremacy of Community law in intra-Community transport, Member States should enter a reservation when depositing their instruments of ratification or accession whereby international transport operations between Member States are not to be regarded as international transport operations within the meaning of the Agreement;Whereas the possibilities provided for in the Agreement itself for bilateral agreements between Contracting Parties derogating from the said Agreement as regards frontier zone and transit transport operations are a matter which in principle fall within the competence of the Community;Whereas, if an amendment to the internal Community rules in the field in question necessitates a corresponding amendment to the Agreement, the Member States will act jointly to obtain such an amendment to the Agreement in accordance with the procedure laid down therein;Whereas certain transport operations may be exempted from the application of this Regulation;Whereas it is desirable to amplify and clarify certain definitions and to bring up to date certain provisions, in particular concerning the exceptions for certain categories of vehicles;Whereas it is desirable to lay down provisions concerning the minimum ages for drivers engaged in the carriage of goods or of passengers — bearing in mind here certain vocational training requirements — and concerning also the minimum age for drivers’ mates and conductors; whereas for the purposes of vocational training, Member States must be able to reduce the approved minimum age for drivers mates to 16 years;Whereas, with regard to driving periods, it is desirable to set limits on continuous driving time and on daily driving time, but without prejudice to any national rules whereby drivers are prohibited from driving for longer than they can with complete safety;Whereas a longer driving day, together with a shorter driving time over a two-week period is likely to facilitate the management of transport undertakings and to contribute to social progress;Whereas the provisions on breaks in driving should be adjusted because of the longer daily driving time;Whereas, with regard to rest periods, it is desirable to lay down the minimum duration of and other conditions governing the daily and weekly rest periods of crew members;Whereas trips would be made easier if the driver were able to split up his daily rest period, in particular to avoid his having to take a meal and lodging in the same place;Whereas it is beneficial to social progress and to road safety to lengthen weekly rest periods, while enabling these periods to be shortened, provided that the driver can compensate for parts of his rest period which have not been taken in a place of his choosing within a given time;Whereas many road transport operations within the Community involve transport by ferryboat or by rail for part of the journey; whereas provisions regarding daily rest periods and breaks which are appropriate to such operations should therefore be provided for in the rules;Whereas, in the interests of road safety, the payment of bonuses for distance travelled and/or tonnage carried which might endanger road safety must be prohibited;Whereas it is desirable to provide that exceptions may be made from this Regulation for certain national transport operations with special characteristics; whereas in the event of exceptions Member States should ensure that the standard of social protection and road safety is not jeopardized;Whereas it is justified, given the specific nature of passenger transport, to redefine the category of vehicles that the Member States may exempt from application of the Regulation in the field of national transport;Whereas the Member States should be entitled, with the Commission’s authorization, to grant exceptions from the provisions of the Regulation in exceptional circumstances; whereas in urgent cases, it should be possible to grant these exceptions for a limited time without prior authorization from the Commission;Whereas in the case of drivers of vehicles used for regular passenger services, a copy of the timetable and an extract from the undertaking’s duty roster may replace the recording equipment; whereas it would be useful for the application of this Regulation and the prevention of abuse, to have delivered to drivers who so request extracts from their duty rosters;Whereas it is desirable, in the interest of effective control, that regular international passenger services, with the exception of certain border services should no longer be exempt from the obligation to install and use recording equipment;Whereas it is desirable to emphasize the importance of and the need for compliance with this Regulation by employers and drivers;Whereas the Commission should monitor the way the situation with Member States develops and submit to the Council and to the European Parliament a report on the application of the rules every two years;Whereas, in order that this Regulation may be applied and that compliance therewith may be checked, it is appropriate for Member States to give each other assistance,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: