New measures in the field of road transport

REGULATION (EU) 2020/698 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 May 2020 laying down specific and temporary measures in the field of road transport following the outbreak of COVID-19 has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

You can consult the entire regulation by clicking here.

On the other hand, and to facilitate the work, here is a brief summary of the measures that we consider most significant:

Initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers:

- The validity is extended for a period of 7 months of the CAP continuous training course, which would have expired or expires between 1 February 2020 and 31 August 2020.

Driving licences (Article 3):

- Driving licences which expire between 1 February 2020 and 31 August 2020 will be extended by 7 months, counting from the expiry date marked on the licence itself.

- If a Member State decides not to apply this extension, it may do so after notifying the Commission, but in no case shall it hinder the cross-border activities of any economic operator or person having benefited from the derogations provided for in the previous paragraph.

Tachographs (Article 4):

- Periodic inspections of tachographs to be carried out between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020 shall be carried out no later than 6 months after the date on which the inspection is due to take place.

- Where a driver requests the renewal of the driver card between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020, the competent authorities shall issue the driver card at the latest 2 months after receipt of the request.

- If a new driver card is requested due to damage to the driver card between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020, the competent authority shall issue a new driver card at the latest 2 months after receipt of the request. The driver may continue to drive until he receives the new card, provided that he can prove that when his card was damaged, he returned it to the competent authority and a replacement was requested.

 - In the event of damage, malfunctioning, loss or theft of the driver card, the driver shall:

(a) at the start of the journey, print out the details of the vehicle he is driving, stating:

(i) the data enabling him to be identified (surname and forename, driver card or driving licence number), accompanied by his signature; and

(ii) the periods referred to in Article 34(5)(b)(ii), (iii) and (iv);

(b) at the end of the journey, print out the data corresponding to the periods of time recorded by the tachograph, recording any periods spent on other work, availability and rest since the printout made at the beginning of the journey, where these periods have not been recorded by the tachograph, and include in this document data allowing his identification (name, driver card or driving licence number), accompanied by his signature.

- If a Member State decides not to apply this extension, it may do so after notifying the Commission, but in no case shall it hinder the cross-border activities of any economic operator or person who has benefited from the derogations provided for in the previous paragraph.

Technical Inspection of Vehicles (Article 5):

- Les ITVs que en principi vençudes entre l'1 de febrer de 2020 i el 31 d'agost de 2020, es consideraran ampliades per un període de 7 mesos.

- If a Member State decides not to apply the above, it may do so with prior notification to the Commission, but in no case will it hinder the cross-border activities of any economic operator or person that has availed itself of the exceptions provided for in the previous paragraph.

Common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator (Article 6):

- When a transport undertaking does not meet the financial capacity requirement in the period between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2020, the deadline may be increased by Member States to 12 months instead of 6 months.

- If it has been established by the Authority as of 28 May that a transport undertaking does not comply with the financial capacity requirement and a deadline has already been set for this to be the case, the competent authority may extend the deadline, not exceeding 12 months and if the deadline has not expired as of 28 May.

Common rules for access to the international road haulage market (Article 7):

- Community licences that expire between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020 shall be deemed to be extended for a period of 6 months. Authentic copies will be valid.

- The validity of driver attestations that expire between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020 shall be deemed to be extended for a period of 6 months.

- If a Member State decides not to apply the above, it may do so with prior notification to the Commission, but in no case will it hinder the cross-border activities of any economic operator or person who has availed themselves of the exceptions provided for in the previous paragraph.