"A vote in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee confirms that Self Employed drivers will now be subject to a directive which limits their working time as distinct from their driving time"- this was stated by Marian Harkin following the controversial vote in the Employment Committee.

"I am extremely disappointed with the outcome of this vote. Already all drivers are covered by the driving time or Tacograph directive which limits driving times to a maximum of 56 hours per week and a total accumulated driving time of 90 hours in 2 weeks. However todays vote confirms a decision taken in 2002 that self employed drivers will now be subject to the very same working time regulations as employed drivers. In effect this means that a self employed driver can only work for an average of 48 hours per week. This working time includes driving time but also any time spent loading or unloading, assisting passengers boarding and disembarking from their vehicle, all cleaning and technical maintenance, any work intended to ensure the safety of the vehicle including monitoring  of loading/unloading, any time spent at a workstation including waiting time and any administrative work that is directly related to the specific  transport operation underway, time spent beside the driver while the vehicle is in motion or time spent on a bunk while the vehicle is in motion. All of this time will now be considered working time and will significantly restrict the driving time of self employed truck drivers" Marian Harkin continued.

"For the first time ever the E.U. is legislating to control the number of hours worked by self employed persons- this is a retrograde step, it will be virtually unenforceable and it will add to the red tape and bureaucracy. This has huge implications for self employed workers particularly in Ireland where the majority of operators are small businesses and individual operators. Unfortunately I believe that the long term impact could be the non viability of businesses particularly in Ireland" Marian Harkin concluded.

Marian Harkin MEP is a member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee and is co-ordinator for the ALDE group on this Committee

Information: The Parliament vote which is likely to take place in June looks as if it will confirm the current situation and the European Commission will have no option but to take infringement procedures against Member States who do not implement the regulation.