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FTA appeals to de Palacio to
Page 4
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scrap current tacho plans
by Robin Moons The Freight Transport Association is to take its case for scrapping smart-card tachograph plans in favour of a single "black box" solution direct to European transport commissioner Loyola de Palacio,
FTA chief executive Richard Turner announced the move after EU officials again failed to offer any hope of a U-turn over the current smart-card tachograph specification at a "stakeholders" meeting held in Brussels last Thursday (22 May)— despite recognising that the current specification was Imperfect.
Everyone at the meeting, organised by the FTA, agreed that a single "black box" solution to provide tacho information as well as other functions—such as automated toll charging, route information and vehicle tracking and tracing—was desirable. And a suggestion by Turner that current plans for smart-card tachographs were "in crisis", following the failure of tachograph suppliers to meet the 5 March deadline for registering for type approval testing, went unchallenged by EU officials.
But they again rejected an invitation to consider changing the legislative requirements of their own accord.
MEP Mathieu Grosch said the European Parliament felt "any further delay would not be credible".
Luc Lapere, head of the surface transport division at the EU Council of Ministers, said that while the Incoming EU presidency might possibly pick up on the debate as part of the updating of new drivers' hours proposals, the current Intention was still to introduce smart-card tachographs by August 2004.
Leo Huberts, administrator for inland transport at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, said: "We have all seen serious accidents because drivers are speeding or not respecting drivers' hours rules. The Commission wants a digital tachograph to be introduced as soon as possible so we don't have to work with a mechanical tachograph that can be easily tampered with."
Given the lack of systems submitted for type approval, some kind of decision from de Palacio—either to delay implementation until the spec can be met or to devise an
entirely new spec—is expected by 5 August this year, the deadline for completion of type approval testing.
Announcing the FTA would target de Palacio directly before this date, Turner said: If it's on the Commissioner's desk for her to decide, then we have to try and ensure that in making that decision she listens to our concerns."