Continental HGV drivers break EU working time rules in UK

Apparently, roadside tacho-checks, conducted by the Highways Agency officials and the police, reveal that Continental HGV drivers are more liable to break the EU working time rules on UK roads than UK citizens. Moreover, the most recent EU figures indicate that 27,418 of hours defenders, detected on British highways in both 2004 and 2005, were in fact UK citizens, whilst 11,565 were from other EU countries. Nevertheless, it seems that the situation is reversed on the Continent, where locals are more likely to break the EU working time rules. For instance, in Italy, 90,725 Italian HGV drivers were found to be breaking the EU working time rules, in comparison with approximately 2,834 hours offenders from other EU states. Also, in Germany, 631,226 German offenders were found, in contrast to 73,246 from other member states.

Furthermore, hour offenders detected in their own countries have also massively outnumbered visiting or immigrant EU (HGV) drivers in Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. Nonetheless, only in Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg and Sweden were foreign EU nationals found to be as commonly associated with working time offences as in Britain. In conclusion, the European Commission warns that hours offences are a growing problem. Ultimately, taking the EU as a whole, 1.185 million hours offenders were detected in 2003-4, in comparison with 1.183 million in 2001-2.