The Mobility and Transport Department of the European Commission (EC) has opened a 14- week consultation with reference to Directive 2003/59/EC regarding Driver CPC.
The consultation, which runs until October 25, 2013, invites stakeholders to respond in a full critique, including issues from the harmonisation of content and training processes across member states, to the inclusion of testing and the distribution of the training across the five-year period.
The EC is also seeking the stakeholders’ views on the main aspects of the directive in order to assess whether any need to be clarified, modified or changed. In addition to the specific questions asked, in the final section of an online questionnaire respondents are invited to voice their views on other relevant aspects not explicitly mentioned.
The three aims of the review, as stated by the EC, are:
- To address difficulties encountered in processing Driver CPC;
- Update legislation referring to the directive; and
- Explore possible avenues for the evolution of the legislation.
In response the FTA said it believes the review is timely with it being 10 years since the original legislation was introduced by the EC in July 2003, and is pleased to have the opportunity to submit members’ comments.
James Firth, FTA Head of Road Freight and Enforcement Policy said: “We see the Driver CPC as positive for the freight industry, as it encourages and ensures continuous professional development which we see as a cornerstone of any vocational profession.
“FTA members think that there is certainly room for improvement to the Driver CPC legislation, which was devised a decade ago and the industry has five years’ experience of it to reflect upon. We do need to be careful, however, not to fall into the trap of looking to the Commission to solve problems through regulation, and thus constraining the flexibilities of responsible operators who are already using Driver CPC to good effect.”
CPT told CBW it “very much welcomes the announcement”
The online questionnaire can be found at https://tinyurl.com/n4dtjow
