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EU can't make a smart move
Page 10
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The EU refuses to revise the starting date for smart-card tachos, leaving us with just a "gentlemen's agreement". Dominic Perry reports.
THE EUROPEAN Commission has been accused of yet more bungling over the already farcical nonappearance of digital smart-card tachographs.
The new tachographs were due lobe fitted to all new vehicles from August of this year, but with no tacho manufacturer gaining type approval to date, the deadline has clearly become impossible to meet. The UK government has already said it will not enforce the rules this August (CM 11 March).
The EC had initially suggested a memorandum of understanding would be produced effectively a gentleman's agreement between the member states-not to enforce he legislation.
Another option, preferred by many inside the industry, was for the EC to take the legislation back through the decision-making process in order to change its introduction datellis would have given all parties involved more certainty over the issue.
However, Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio has indicated she will not go down this route, claiming it "would not offer clarity to either member states' manufacturers or operators" because of the possibility of the rules being tinkered with in the parliament. But she will announce a moratorium on the deadlines and write to all member states and stakeholders with "guidelines on transition periods-.
Richard Turner, chief executive of the Freight Transport Association, also hit out at the continued uncertainty: "What they've come out with is nothing more than a glorified gentlemen's agreement.
"I don't think this is the way that an industry which runs four million commercial vehicles across Europe should be treated. They have made a mistake and are now refusing to put it right."
The Commissioner's decision leaves open the possibility that individual member states could keep to the original timetable and introduce the legislation as planned, causing confusion for international operators. So far French firm Actia is the only tacho maker remotely near obtaining type approval for its equipment.