The EU Mobility Package: interpretative notes - an Italian perspective

Genova - On 16th March 2021, the Italian Ministry of Interior issued the Circular no. 300/A/2356/21/111/2/2, showing the main innovations introduced by the so-called “Mobility Package”.

Among these important changes, we have to note Regulation 2020/1054, which introduces new obligations regarding maximum driving times, minimum breaks and rest periods.

The Regulation, entered into force since 20th August 2020, amends the previous Reg. 561/2006 by introducing greater flexibility of working hours and confirming the ban on weekly rest in the cabin.

According to the new Regulation, drivers engaged in international transport of goods may, outside the Member State of establishment, take two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods provided that the driver in any four consecutive weeks takes at least four weekly rest periods, of which at least two shall be regular weekly rest periods. A driver shall be considered to be engaged in international transport where the driver starts the two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods outside the Member State of the employer’s establishment and the country of the drivers’ place of residence.

Moreover, the hauler has to organise the work of drivers in such a way that the drivers are able to return to the employer’s operational center where the driver is normally based and where the driver’s weekly rest period begins in the Member State of the employer’s establishment, or to return to the drivers’ place of residence, within each period of four consecutive weeks.

Finally, the new Regulation forbids any bonus or increase of salary based on the distances traveled, the speed of delivery and/or the volume of goods transported anytime these are of such a nature as to endanger road safety.

The EU Commission is expected to publish on a dedicated website the list of all parking areas considered suitable for parking, in order to offer adequate and safe services for the drivers.

Regulation 2020/1055 has introduced other important provisions, which will be enforceable starting from 21 February 2022. In particular, the European rules on access to road haulage activities now applies to companies with vehicles of mass between 2,5 and 3,5 tons that carry out only international transports, while those who perform their activities exclusively with vehicles with a permissible laden mass of less than 3,5 tons exclusively in their Member State of establishment are excluded from such provision. The new Regulation also provides clearer rules for cabotage by introducing a waiting period of 4 days before further cabotage operations can be carried out in the same state using the same vehicle.

In order to comply with the establishments requirements, haulers will be required to organise their fleet’s activity in such a way as to ensure that vehicles that are at the disposal of the company and are used in international carriage return to one of the operational centres in that Member State at least within eight weeks after leaving it.

Further provisions were introduced by Regulation 2020/1056 concerning electronic information on freight transport (eFTI), which will apply from 21 August 2024.

With the clear intention of encouraging the digitization of transport documents, economic operators will be allowed to provide to the authority the regulatory information about the international transport in digital form, on the basis of data processed on a certified eFTI platform.

In the coming months, the Commission will issue the delegated acts to regulate the functioning and the minimum technical requirements of eFTI platforms.

This contribution is edited by Studio Legale Mordiglia