WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2931/98 by Gérard CAUDRON to the Commission. HGV drivers
28. 6. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 182/31 The Commission has indicated on several occasions, in particular to Parliament, that it intends to take all the necessary steps to guarantee both the efficacy of medicine and food safety. (1) OJ L 117, 8. 5. 1990. (2) OJ C 173, 7. 6. 1997; amended by COM(98) 8 final. (1999/C 182/039) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2931/98 by Gérard Caudron (PSE) to the Commission (2 October 1998) Subject: HGV drivers The last few days have seen large-scale demonstrations by lorry drivers throughout the Union. Their main demands concerned working hours. These demands are all the more urgent as the main consequence of the increased opportunities for cabotage will be to increase the pressure exerted by their companies on their actual working hours to maximise the rate of utilisation of their vehicles. Quite apart from the fact that the lorry drivers will undergo a decline in their quality of life, we have to assess the impact of these measures on road safety. We hardly need quote the long list of road accidents attributable to driver fatigue. The indirect and often tragic consequences have been plain to see. Will the Commission therefore consider harmonising working time for road haulage drivers at European Union level and conduct research into the impact of cabotage on working time? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (26 November 1998) The Commission intends shortly to produce a package of proposals in order to provide workers who are not currently covered by Council Directive 93/104/EC concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time (1) (the Working Time Directive) with protection against adverse effects on their health and safety caused by excessively long working hours, inadequate rest or disruptive working patterns. The package will include a proposal to amend the Working Time Directive to cover all non-mobile workers in road transport, and a proposal for a specific directive on working time for mobile workers in road transport. That latter proposal will take full account of the results so far reached in the negotiations between the road transport social partners, and it will also contain provisions for self-employed drivers and mobile workers in own account transport undertakings. The latest Commission report on cabotage (2) indicated that in 1995 the share of cabotage operations in national markets was about 0,25 %. This situation is not expected to change sharply following the abolition of cabotage quotas after 1 July 1998. While it is obviously too early to gather statistics on the situation after 1 July 1998, recent indications reveal a reduction in the use of cabotage authorizations in 1996 and 1997 which would tend to support the conclusions of the above-mentioned Commission report. (1) OJ L 307, 13. 12. 1993. (2) COM(98) 47 final