COMMISSION OPINION of 12 June 1980 with regard to the measures applied by the Danish Government to implement Council Directive 76/914/EEC of 16 December 1976 on the minimum level of training for some road transport drivers (80/625/EEC)

1. In a letter to the European Communities from its Permanent Representation dated 18 December 1979, the Danish Government sent the Commission a copy of a Ministerial Decree of 31 October 1979 concerning recognition of the professional training of road transport drivers, implementing Directive 76/914/EEC (1), and two model certificates relating to the professional training in question and a model statement of professional competence.

2. Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 (2), in pursuance of which Directive 76/914/EEC was made, provides that: - for the carriage of goods, the driver of a vehicle with a maximum weight of more than 7 75 tonnes must be at least 21 years old, or 18 years old, if he holds a certificate of professional competence,

- for the carriage of passengers, the driver must be at least 21 years old and meet one of the three conditions listed, of which the third is that he must hold a certificate of professional competence.

If therefore a Member State wishes to allow drivers to carry goods below the age of 21 or to take into account only the third condition for drivers of at least 21 years old carrying passengers, these drivers must hold a certificate of professional competence stating that a training course for drivers of either goods or passenger vehicles has been completed, under the conditions laid down by the abovementioned Council Directive.

3. The Commission regrets to observe that despite the obligation laid down in Article 3 (1) of Directive 76/914/EEC, the Danish Government did not consult the Commission until 20 December 1979 as to the text of the Decree issued by the Ministry of Labour on 31 October 1979.

4. Although on some points the provisions adopted by the Danish Government appear to fulfil certain of the objectives set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 and defined in Directive 76/914/EEC, there are the following gaps or deficiencies: - for the carriage of passengers and goods:

the subjects listed under Point 1 of the Annex to Directive 76/914/EEC regarding knowledge of the construction of the vehicle and its principal parts, are not mentioned in the Danish programme, except for point 1.7 - "knowledge of how to repair minor breakdowns with the aid of the correct equipment",

- for the carriage of goods:

the subjects listed under the following points of the Annex to the abovementioned Directive are not included in the Danish measures: - point 2.7 regarding "knowledge of the techniques of loading and unloading goods and the use of loading and unloading equipment",

- point 2.8 regarding "basic knowledge of the precautions to be taken in the handling and carriage of dangerous goods",

- for the carriage of passengers:

the subjects listed under the following points of the Annex to the abovementioned Directive are not included in the Danish measures: - point 2.1 concerning "general ability and sufficient geographical knowledge to use road maps and their indexes",

- point 2.9 concerning "knowledge of the driver's responsibility in respect of the carriage of passengers",

- furthermore, the following subjects are missing from the Danish programme:

- point 3.1 concerning "practical experience of driving and manoeuvring vehicles of more than 7 75 tonnes and using a coupling device", for drivers of goods vehicles,

- point 3.2 concerning "practical experience of driving and manoeuvring buses or coaches", for drivers of passenger vehicles. (1) OJ No L 357, 29.12.1976, p. 36. (2) OJ No L 77, 29.3.1969, p. 49 ; a consolidated version of Council Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 of 25 March 1969 appears in OJ No C 73, 17.3.1979, p. 1.

5. The following observation applies to Article 8 (1) of the Danish Decree:

Although the Member States may wish to make use of the vocational training option under Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69, they must comply with Directive 76/914/EEC. The Member States were given a period of two years - up to 16 December 1978 - in which to bring into effect the measures required to comply with the Directive, after having consulted the Commission.

Given that the Danish authorities apparently intend to make use of the option in question, the Danish Decree should have come into effect by 16 December 1978 at the latest.

However, although the Commission regrets that there was a delay in applying the Directive in Denmark, it realizes that the process of giving effect to the Directive was slowed down by financial and organizational difficulties.

6. Furthermore, with regard to the provision under paragraph 8 (4) whereby the Danish Government may - in the year following the entry into force of the Decree - authorize a driver who does not hold a certificate of professional competence to work in Demark, provided he can prove that he was not able to attend the type of training course envisaged, this is not compatible with the aforementioned Directive, if by this Article the Danish Government is referring to drivers of goods vehicles under 21, and drivers of 21 or over who meet only the third condition for the carriage of passengers.

7. The Commission concludes by asking the Danish Government to amend the Decree of 31 October 1979, taking into account the observations set out in this opinion.

Done at Brussels, 12 June 1980.

For the Commission

Richard BURKE

Member of the Commission