EU database will ensure no escape for rogue hauliers

HAULIERS AND bus companies across Europe will no longer be able to break the rules of the road when out of their own countries, under new measures agreed by EU transport ministers in Luxembourg last week.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has been to the fore in pushing for a new EU database which will allow home states to monitor how lorries and buses are driven when abroad, and to let them suspend or revoke offending hauliers' licences or operator permits as necessary.

Mr Dempsey sees the register as an important step towards a pan-EU penalty-points scheme, but acknowledged this is some way off, mainly due to different legal systems in member states.

The EU transport ministers have agreed on a national electronic register that will contain information on all bus and truck operators for each of the 27 member states. They also agreed to greater levels of co-operation and recognition between member states on issues such as the status of licensed contractors or bus operators.

The register, to be known as the Road Transport Operators' Database, will be managed in Ireland by the Department of Transport's haulage- and bus-regulation section based in Loughrea, Co Galway.

According to Mr Dempsey, as well as catching unlicensed and illegal hauliers, the database will also help legitimate ones by ensuring they are not subject to unfair competition from others who cut costs. Mr Dempsey said it would also assist with road safety, by facilitating checks on driver hours and speeding.

While the initiative is expected to be completed in Ireland by the end of 2008, the ministers have given the 27 EU states two years to introduce the measure.