The European Commission adopted a proposal to modify the directive on working time in road transport. The new proposal aims to ensure that the existing working time rules apply to all employed professional drivers, including false self-employed workers.

"It is essential that all drivers dependent upon a single employer enjoy the same level of social protection", said Antonio Tajani, Commission Vice-President responsible for transport. "Europe cannot tolerate risks to road safety, unfair competition and circumvention of social protection arising where employers require their workers to declare themselves to be self-employed".

The Commission proposes to clarify Directive 2002/15/EC in order to guarantee that so-called 'false self-employed drivers' are fully covered by the rules concerning mobile workers and reinforce controls to ensure a correct application of this legislation. The proposal also intends to enhance cooperation among Member States by exchanging information and good practices as well as promoting a common approach to implementation.