The introduction of new, more flexible driving and rest time rules for bus drivers in tourist and charter transport is getting closer. The EU Council of Ministers has agreed to changes in regulations, including on breaks and the so-called twelve-day rule. But transport ministers are against scrapping the much-criticised 50-kilometre rule. The Council of Ministers hereby adopts the advice of the European Parliament's Transport Committee, which still has to approve the proposals.
The proposed driving and rest time rules ensure that coach drivers can divide their mandatory 45-minute break into breaks of at least fifteen minutes. The total duration of the breaks to which the driver is entitled remains unchanged. Coach drivers may postpone their daily rest period by one hour once for a journey of at least six days or twice during a journey of at least eight days. The condition is that the driver's total driving time on the days on which the daily rest period is postponed does not exceed seven hours. The so-called
twelve-day rule, which previously only applied to international traffic, will also apply to domestic traffic. Furthermore, changes are expected in the tachograph data, so that the type of passenger transport can be read from the tachograph. This means that the obligation to carry documentation of previous journeys disappears as soon as the information can be obtained via the tachograph. Only the European Parliament need to approve the proposals.