Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 (Text with EEA relevance) - Declaration

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

Article 1

This Regulation lays down rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers engaged in the carriage of goods and passengers by road in order to harmonise the conditions of competition between modes of inland transport, especially with regard to the road sector, and to improve working conditions and road safety. This Regulation also aims to promote improved monitoring and enforcement practices by Member States and improved working practices in the road transport industry.

Article 2

This Regulation shall apply to the carriage by road:

(a) of goods where the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle, including any trailer, or semi-trailer, exceeds 3,5  tonnes, or

(aa) from 1 July 2026, of goods in international transport operations or in cabotage operations, where the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle, including any trailer, or semi-trailer, exceeds 2,5 tonnes, or

(b) of passengers by vehicles which are constructed or permanently adapted for carrying more than nine persons including the driver, and are intended for that purpose.

This Regulation shall apply, irrespective of the country of registration of the vehicle, to carriage by road undertaken:

(a) exclusively within the Community; or

(b) between the Community, Switzerland and the countries party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

The AETR shall apply, instead of this Regulation, to international road transport operations undertaken in part outside the areas mentioned in paragraph 2, to:

(a) vehicles registered in the Community or in countries which are contracting parties to the AETR, for the whole journey;

(b) vehicles registered in a third country which is not a contracting party to the AETR, only for the part of the journey on the territory of the Community or of countries which are contracting parties to the AETR.

The provisions of the AETR should be aligned with those of this Regulation, so that the main provisions in this Regulation apply, through the AETR, to such vehicles for any part of the journey made within the Community.

Article 3

This Regulation shall not apply to carriage by road by:

(a) vehicles used for the carriage of passengers on regular services where the route covered by the service in question does not exceed 50 kilometres;

(aa) vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7,5 tonnes used for: (i) carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the driver’s use in the course of the driver’s work; or (ii) for delivering goods which are produced on a craft basis, only within a 100 km radius from the base of the undertaking and on the condition that driving the vehicle does not constitute the driver’s main activity and transport is not carried out for hire or reward;

(b) vehicles with a maximum authorised speed not exceeding 40 kilometres per hour;

(c) vehicles owned or hired without a driver by the armed services, civil defence services, fire services, and forces responsible for maintaining public order when the carriage is undertaken as a consequence of the tasks assigned to these services and is under their control;

(d) vehicles, including vehicles used in the non-commercial transport of humanitarian aid, used in emergencies or rescue operations;

(e) specialised vehicles used for medical purposes;

(f) specialised breakdown vehicles operating within a 100 km radius of their base;

(g) vehicles undergoing road tests for technical development, repair or maintenance purposes, and new or rebuilt vehicles which have not yet been put into service;

(h) vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7,5  tonnes used for the non-commercial carriage of goods;

(ha) vehicles with a maximum permissible mass, including any trailer, or semi-trailer exceeding 2,5 tonnes but not exceeding 3,5 tonnes that are used for the transport of goods, where the transport is not effected for hire or reward, but on the own account of the company or the driver, and where driving does not constitute the main activity of the person driving the vehicle;

(i) commercial vehicles, which have a historic status according to the legislation of the Member State in which they are being driven and which are used for the non-commercial carriage of passengers or goods.

Article 4

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘carriage by road’ means any journey made entirely or in part on roads open to the public by a vehicle, whether laden or not, used for the carriage of passengers or goods;

(b) ‘vehicle’ means a motor vehicle, tractor, trailer or semi-trailer or a combination of these vehicles, defined as follows: — ‘motor vehicle’: any self-propelled vehicle travelling on the road, other than a vehicle permanently running on rails, and normally used for carrying passengers or goods, — ‘tractor’: any self-propelled vehicle travelling on the road, other than a vehicle permanently running on rails, and specially designed to pull, push or move trailers, semi-trailers, implements or machines, — ‘trailer’: any vehicle designed to be coupled to a motor vehicle or tractor, — ‘semi-trailer’: a trailer without a front axle coupled in such a way that a substantial part of its weight and of the weight of its load is borne by the tractor or motor vehicle;

(c) ‘driver’ means any person who drives the vehicle even for a short period, or who is carried in a vehicle as part of his duties to be available for driving if necessary;

(d) ‘break’ means any period during which a driver may not carry out any driving or any other work and which is used exclusively for recuperation;

(e) ‘other work’ means all activities which are defined as working time in Article 3(a) of Directive 2002/15/EC except ‘driving’, including any work for the same or another employer, within or outside of the transport sector;

(f) ‘rest’ means any uninterrupted period during which a driver may freely dispose of his time;

(g) ‘daily rest period’ means the daily period during which a driver may freely dispose of his time and covers a ‘regular daily rest period’ and a ‘reduced daily rest period’: — ‘regular daily rest period’ means any period of rest of at least 11 hours. Alternatively, this regular daily rest period may be taken in two periods, the first of which must be an uninterrupted period of at least 3 hours and the second an uninterrupted period of at least nine hours, — ‘reduced daily rest period’ means any period of rest of at least nine hours but less than 11 hours;

(h) ‘weekly rest period’ means the weekly period during which a driver may freely dispose of his time and covers a ‘regular weekly rest period’ and a ‘reduced weekly rest period’: — ‘regular weekly rest period’ means any period of rest of at least 45 hours, — ‘reduced weekly rest period’ means any period of rest of less than 45 hours, which may, subject to the conditions laid down in Article 8(6), be shortened to a minimum of 24 consecutive hours;

(i) ‘a week’ means the period of time between 00.00 on Monday and 24.00 on Sunday;

(j) ‘driving time’ means the duration of driving activity recorded: — automatically or semi-automatically by the recording equipment as defined in Annex I and Annex IB of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, or — manually as required by Article 16(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85;

(k) ‘daily driving time’ means the total accumulated driving time between the end of one daily rest period and the beginning of the following daily rest period or between a daily rest period and a weekly rest period;

(l) ‘weekly driving time’ means the total accumulated driving time during a week;

(m) ‘maximum permissible mass’ means the maximum authorised operating mass of a vehicle when fully laden;

(n) ‘regular passenger services’ means ‘regular services’ and ‘special regular services’ as defined in Article 2, points 2 and 3, respectively, of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹), whether national or international;

(na) ‘occasional passenger services’ means ‘occasional services’ as defined in Article 2, point 4, of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009, whether national or international;

(o) ‘multi-manning’ means the situation where, during each period of driving between any two consecutive daily rest periods, or between a daily rest period and a weekly rest period, there are at least two drivers in the vehicle to do the driving. For the first hour of multi-manning the presence of another driver or drivers is optional but for the remainder of the period it is compulsory;

(p) ‘transport undertaking’ means any natural person, any legal person, any association or group of persons without legal personality, whether profit-making or not, or any official body, whether having its own legal personality or being dependent upon an authority having such a personality, which engages in carriage by road, whether for hire or reward or for own account;

(q) ‘driving period’ means the accumulated driving time from when a driver commences driving following a rest period or a break until he takes a rest period or a break. The driving period may be continuous or broken;

(r) ‘non-commercial carriage’ means any carriage by road, other than carriage for hire or reward or on own account, for which no direct or indirect remuneration is received and which does not directly or indirectly generate any income for the driver of the vehicle or for others, and which is not linked to professional or commercial activity.

CHAPTER II

CREWS, DRIVING TIMES, BREAKS AND REST PERIODS

Article 5

The minimum age for drivers' mates shall be 18 years. However, Member States may reduce the minimum age for drivers' mates to 16 years, provided that:

(a) the carriage by road is carried out within one Member State within a 50 kilometre radius of the place where the vehicle is based, including local administrative areas the centre of which is situated within that radius;

(b) the reduction is for the purposes of vocational training; and

(c) there is compliance with the limits imposed by the Member State's national rules on employment matters.

Article 6

The daily driving time shall not exceed nine hours.

However, the daily driving time may be extended to at most 10 hours not more than twice during the week.

Article 7

After a driving period of four and a half hours a driver shall take an uninterrupted break of not less than 45 minutes, unless he takes a rest period.

This break may be replaced by a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes each distributed over the period in such a way as to comply with the provisions of the first paragraph.

For a driver engaged in an occasional passenger service, the break referred to in the first paragraph may also be replaced by two breaks, of at least 15 minutes each, distributed over the driving period referred to in the first paragraph, in such a way as to comply with the provisions of the first paragraph.

A driver engaged in multi-manning may take a break of 45 minutes in a vehicle driven by another driver provided that the driver taking the break is not involved in assisting the driver driving the vehicle.

Article 8

Within each period of 24 hours after the end of the previous daily rest period or weekly rest period a driver shall have taken a new daily rest period.

If the portion of the daily rest period which falls within that 24 hour period is at least nine hours but less than 11 hours, then the daily rest period in question shall be regarded as a reduced daily rest period.

In any two consecutive weeks a driver shall take at least:

(a) two regular weekly rest periods; or

(b) one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly rest period of at least 24 hours.

A weekly rest period shall start no later than at the end of six 24-hour periods from the end of the previous weekly rest period.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, a driver 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.

For the purpose of this paragraph, 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.

By way of derogation from paragraph 6, a driver engaged in a single occasional passenger service may postpone the weekly rest period for up to 12 consecutive 24-hour periods following a previous regular weekly rest period, provided that:

(b) the driver takes after the use of the derogation: (i) either two regular weekly rest periods; or (ii) one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly rest period of at least 24 hours. However, the reduction shall be compensated by an equivalent period of rest taken en bloc before the end of the third week following the end of the derogation period;

(c) after 1 January 2014, the vehicle is equipped with recording equipment in accordance with the requirements of Annex IB to Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85; and

(d) after 1 January 2014, if driving during the period from 22,00 to 06,00, the vehicle is multi-manned or the driving period referred to in Article 7 is reduced to three hours.

The Commission shall monitor closely the use made of this derogation in order to ensure the preservation of road safety under very strict conditions, in particular by checking that the total accumulated driving time during the period covered by the derogation is not excessive. By 4 December 2012, the Commission shall draw up a report assessing the consequences of the derogation in respect of road safety as well as social aspects. If it deems it appropriate, the Commission shall propose amendments to this Regulation in this respect.

The Commission shall examine the options for digitalising the journey form referred to in Article 16(4) in the context of broader digitalisation efforts in the road transport sector.

Where two reduced weekly rest periods have been taken consecutively in accordance with the third subparagraph of paragraph 6, the next weekly rest period shall be preceded by a rest period taken as compensation for those two reduced weekly rest periods.

Any costs for accommodation outside the vehicle shall be covered by the employer.

However, where the driver has taken two consecutive reduced weekly rest periods in accordance with paragraph 6, the transport undertaking shall organise the work of the driver in such a way that the driver is able to return before the start of the regular weekly rest period of more than 45 hours taken in compensation.

The undertaking shall document how it fulfils that obligation and shall keep the documentation at its premises in order to present it at the request of control authorities.

Article 8a

The Commission shall ensure that information about safe and secure parking areas is easily accessible to drivers engaged in the carriage of goods and passengers by road. The Commission shall publish a list of all parking areas that have been certified, in order to provide drivers with adequate:

— intrusion detection and prevention,

— lighting and visibility,

— emergency contact points and procedures,

— gender-friendly sanitary facilities,

— food and beverage purchasing options,

— communications connections,

— power supply.

The list of such parking areas shall be made available on a single official website that is regularly updated.

In accordance with point (c) of Article 39(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council (³), Member States are to encourage the creation of parking space for commercial road users.

Article 9

With regard to regular weekly rest periods, that derogation shall only apply to ferry or train journeys where:

(a) the journey is scheduled for 8 hours or more; and

(b) the driver has access to a sleeper cabin in the ferry or on the train.

Article 9a

By 31 December 2025, the Commission shall draw up and submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report evaluating the use of autonomous driving systems in the Member States. That report shall focus in particular on the potential impact of those systems on rules on driving and rest times. That report shall be accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal to amend this Regulation.

CHAPTER III

LIABILITY OF TRANSPORT UNDERTAKINGS

Article 10

A transport undertaking shall be liable for infringements committed by drivers of the undertaking, even if the infringement was committed on the territory of another Member State or a third country.

Without prejudice to the right of Member States to hold transport undertakings fully liable, Member States may make this liability conditional on the undertaking's infringement of paragraphs 1 and 2. Member States may consider any evidence that the transport undertaking cannot reasonably be held responsible for the infringement committed.

(a) A transport undertaking which uses vehicles that are fitted with recording equipment complying with Annex IB of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 and that fall within the scope of this Regulation, shall: (i) ensure that all data are downloaded from the vehicle unit and driver card as regularly as is stipulated by the Member State and that relevant data are downloaded more frequently so as to ensure that all data concerning activities undertaken by or for that undertaking are downloaded; (ii) ensure that all data downloaded from both the vehicle unit and driver card are kept for at least 12 months following recording and, should an inspecting officer request it, such data are accessible, either directly or remotely, from the premises of the undertaking;

(b) for the purposes of this paragraph ‘downloaded’ shall be interpreted in accordance with the definition laid down in Annex IB, Chapter I, point (s) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85;

(c) the maximum period within which the relevant data shall be downloaded under (a)(i) shall be decided by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).

CHAPTER IV

EXCEPTIONS

Article 11

A Member State may provide for longer minimum breaks and rest periods or shorter maximum driving times than those laid down in Articles 6 to 9 in the case of carriage by road undertaken wholly within its territory. In so doing, Member States shall take account of relevant collective or other agreements between the social partners. Nevertheless, this Regulation shall remain applicable to drivers engaged in international transport operations.

Article 12