Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, in the Group of Experts on the European agreement concerning the work of crews of vehicles engaged in international road transport (AETR) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

The European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport (AETR) was signed by 51 European and Asian frontier countries, with the objective of reducing barriers to international road traffic on goods and passengers through the harmonization of the rules on driving and rest times, including the technical specifications of the tachograph.

This multilateral agreement has been elaborated under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations (UNECE). It inspired similar rules within the European Union, namely Regulation (EC) 561/2006 on the driving time and rest periods and Regulation (EEC) 3821/85 on the recording equipment in road transport.

In 2006 the EU introduced the digital tachograph as its obligatory equipment for monitoring driving times and rest periods, replacing the analogue tachograph, which has been in use since 1985. The AETR Contracting Parties agreed subsequently to introduce the same digital tachograph in their vehicles used in international transport as from 2011. They agreed to insert in AETR a new Article 22bis which provides that the specifications of the tachograph, although decided unilaterally by the EU without prior consultation of non-EU Contracting Parties when amending Annex IB of Regulation (EEC) 3821/85, are extended automatically to all AETR Contracting Parties.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)541: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:541:FIN

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