Access to the Profession
As of 4 December 2011, admission to the occupation of road haulage operator and road passenger transport operator in the European Union is governed by Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009.
Road Haulage: EC 1072/2009
Passenger Transport: EC 1073/2009
These rules cover road hauliers using vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes (the maximum authorised mass) and commercial transport undertakings operating vehicles with seats for 9 passengers, including the driver, or more.
According to the regulation, operators must fulfill four criteria to access the profession:
1. Good repute
Good repute criterion, which shall ensure adequate entrepreneurial ethical conduct. Manipulating a tachograph, for example, would be considered a serious infringement leading to the loss of a good reputation.
2. Financial standing
Financial standing, which requires operators to have capital assets available every annual accounting year of at least €9000 for the first vehicle and €5000 for each additional vehicle.
3. Professional competence
Professional competence, which requires practical knowledge and the aptitude of professionals in the sector by means of an obligatory exam with common arrangements, marking and certificates.
4. Stable establishment
To have an effective and stable establishment in a Member State.
A transport manager who is responsible for respecting the road transport legislation in force must be designated by each road transport operator.
National authorities have to carry out regular checks to ensure that undertakings continue to satisfy these four criteria. In order to facilitate the monitoring of road transport undertakings, Member States have to set up national electronic registers which are interconnected (ERRU) to facilitate the cooperation and exchange of information at European level.
The purpose of these rules is:
- to achieve greater harmonisation of standards between Member States, particularly as regards levels of financial standing required and the standard of professional competence expected;
- to facilitate the right of establishment in other Member States and the mutual recognition of professional status;
- to improve the overall professional standing and quality of road transport;
- to prevent unscrupulous firms from seeking to gain market advantages by skimping on safety and working conditions
To allow a better exchange of information between Member States, so that the competent authorities can better monitor the compliance of road transport undertakings with the rules in force, the European Union established the European Register of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU).
Undertakings that do not respect the rules when operating abroad will face the consequences in the Member State where they are based. This creates fairer competition conditions in the road transport market.
However, the ERRU system is not functioning to its fullest extent and is not available to enforcement officers at the roadside, which means the system cannot be used to target inspections effectively. ECR continues to advocate for a broader scope of use of data exchange systems.
πΎERRU Contact PointsDownload the official interconnected register list per Member State (.XLS)
Source: DG MOVE
Social Provisions
The EU has therefore established a framework of social rules for goods and passenger road transport operators with three complementary goals:
Adequate protection
To ensure the adequate social protection of road transport workers.
Guarantee fair play
To guarantee fair competition between undertakings.
Improve road safety
To improve road safety by averting driver fatigue.
Regulatory Framework developed at EU Level:
1. Driving Time & Rest Periods
EU framework strictly governing driving times, breaks, daily and weekly rests for commercial road transport operations.
Regulation EC 561/2006
2. Working Time & Enforcement
Rules covering maximum weekly working hours, night shifts, and proper inspection procedures.
Directive EC 2002/15
3. Recording Device / Tachograph
Technical criteria on installation, calibration, and smart tachograph usage to enforce rules.
Regulation EC 165/2014
Directive 2006/22/EC, commonly known by enforcers as the control directive, sets the minimum implementation.
Roadworthiness
A properly maintained vehicle is less likely to be involved in a road accident. From a road safety point of view and taking into account that accidents involving HGVs have serious consequences in terms of road death and persons injured, technical inspections at the roadside are an important theme for ECR.
Under EU law, unannounced roadside inspections of commercial vehicles can be carried out in any EU country, whether or not the vehicle is registered in the EU.
These checks cover brakes, emissions and the vehicle's overall condition. Drivers may also be required to produce recent inspection reports or proof the vehicle has passed the mandatory roadworthiness test.
Directive EC 2014/47
Cargo Securing Enforcement
The legislation also emphasises the importance of proper cargo securing. Overturned lorries or lost loads endanger other road users and the blocked roads have a considerable economic cost.
Weights and Dimensions
In Europe, heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches must comply with certain rules on weights and dimensions for road safety reasons and to avoid damaging roads, bridges and tunnels.
Directive (EU) 2015/719 sets maximum dimensions and weights for international traffic, also ensuring that Member States cannot restrict the circulation of vehicles which comply with these limits from performing international transport operations within their territories.
The Directive also aims at avoiding that national operators benefit from undue advantages over their competitors from other Member States when performing national transport.
Alternative Fuels & Cabin Aerodynamics
Directive (EU) 2015/719 grants derogations on the maximal lengths to make heavy goods vehicles greener by improving their aerodynamic performance. This also provides the opportunity to make them safer by including new features in the extra space in the driver cabin. Derogations on weights are also allowed for vehicles powered by alternative fuels.
This directive has an important role in improving the functioning of the internal market and in ensuring the free movement of goods in Europe.
Dangerous Goods Transport
The international transport of dangerous goods on land is governed by agreements drawn up by the relevant international bodies. They are regularly updated to keep pace with technical progress and improve safety.
The EU converts these rules into specific directives which apply to all transport in the EU, both within and across national borders.
Transport by road, rail and inland waterway is covered by a single EU directive:
Directive EU 2008/68
Relevant Legal Documents
Directive 95/50
Checks on dangerous goods: Lays down a standard list of points to be checked and requires a report on the checks to be available to any authorities making further checks, in any EU country.
Legal Text β
Directive 98/91
Vehicles and trailers type approval: Deals with dangerous goods carriage vehicle registration. Sourced from the ADR agreement, introducing a single EU-wide compliance certificate.
Legal Text β
Non-EU countries
While road transport within the EU is harmonised and thus based on common EU rules, road transport between EU and non-EU countries (third countries) is still largely based on bilateral agreements between individual Member States and third countries. However, with certain countries, the EU has concluded agreements which take precedence over bilateral agreements.
Core Cross-Border Frameworks
Land Transport Agreement & Alpine Observatory
EEA Agreement
The Agreement on the European Economic Area basically extends the EU internal market to Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. As regards road transport, this entails that these three countries apply the EU road transport rules just like EU Member States. Annex XIII of the EEA Agreement contains the EU transport acquis and is regularly updated by decisions of the EEA Joint Committee.
Land Transport Agreement (Switzerland)
Interbus Agreement
Passenger services
As regards passenger transport, the INTERBUS agreement covers occasional services between the EU and Ukraine, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, FYROM, Montenegro and Moldova. The agreement provides for a harmonised regulatory framework to facilitate passenger services between these countries.
AETR Agreement
Vehicle crew operations
The AETR agreement concerns the work of crews of vehicles engaged in international road transport, covering 49 contracting parties including all EU Member States. Its provisions are aligned with current EU legislation on driving times, breaks and rest periods. In 2006 it was amended to introduce the digital tachograph, mandatory for contracting parties since 2010.
AETR Agreement PDF
Source: DG Move
Guidance Notes
The following guidance notes have been drafted by the Working Group and endorsed by the Committee composed of Commission representatives, experts from Member States national administrations, enforcement bodies, employers' organisations and trade unions. Guidance notes provide comments on certain provisions of the Regulation with the aim to improve efficiency, effectiveness and consistency in the enforcement of these rules across the EU.
TRACE Explanatory Text 561/2006
TRACE stands for Transport Regulators Align Control Enforcement. It was an EU co-financed project aiming at development of a European harmonized training format for enforcers controlling the respect of the above mentioned rules.
The document is one of the project's main outputs. It contains simplified explanations and guidance on the application of the Regulation's main provisions and may serve as a basis for the continuous training of control officers in all EU countries. It should be noted that, in any event, interpretation of European Union law is ultimately the prerogative of the European Court of Justice.
Multilingual Lexicon
Road transport is a globalized industry. Nowhere is that more apparent than during roadside checks, where an enforcer from country A can be confronted with a driver from country B working for an operator from country C with documentation from countries B, C through Z.
Even with English increasingly as the lingua franca of the world, when it comes to the instructions and exchange needed during often complicated checks things more often than not get lost in translation.
In order to facilitate more efficient and expedient controls, ECR compiled a phrasebook of the most common phrases needed during a roadside check and translated it into twelve languages. To ensure ease of use the overview was kept as an Excel file as this application is widely available to computer users.
Below you will find the electronic version of the lexicon. In each version one specific language has been put in the first position to make it easier for the enforcement officer to find his/her native tongue.
Select Language version:
Safe Controls - Best Practice
Road Transport is still the main means of transporting goods within Europe. Millions of trucks transport a wide variety of loads every day.
For the enforcers this means that they are sometimes confronted with loads with health and safety implications during the check.
ECR believes that a good check is a safe check and has produced the following best practice materials:
Passenger Transport / Journey Form Advice
Information on how to fill in, use and control the journey form for international occasional transport in the EU.
This practical advice will help bus and coach managers and drivers to fill in and use the journey form (waybill) for international occasional services, and occasional services in the form of cabotage. They will also facilitate roadside checks and checks at company premises by providing a common understanding and interpretation of these rules by coach operators and control authorities.
Download Journey Form Guide:
Brexit: Driving Abroad is Changing
Commercial drivers operating in the EU need to prepare for Brexit by making sure they have the right documents. To prepare for deal and no-deal scenarios, you need to:
International Driving Permits
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, you might need an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in the EU and the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). You can get IDPs from the Post Office.
Read permit requirements
Motor insurance green cards
Green cards are an international certificate of motor insurance. Commercial drivers may need a green card as proof of third-party motor insurance cover β contact your insurer for more information.
More on insurance updates
ECMT permits & UK Government Brexit updates
The UK Government remains confident that hauliers won't need ECMT permits to drive in the EU after Brexit, but contingency plans continue to prepare for all scenarios.
UK Gov Brexit Campaign Website
Type approval of vehicles: withdrawal of the UK (soft Brexit)
π₯Download UK exit soft-Brexit Type Approval document (.PDF)
ECMT permit application date extended
The deadline to apply for a European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) permit has now been extended until 11.59 pm on 18 January 2019. ECMT permits allow continued operation in the EU in the event of "no deal".
Short-term (monthly) permits: No longer possible to apply for a short-term permit (valid for 30 days) directly β unsuccessful annual-permit applicants are automatically considered for a short-term permit.
European Commission proposals: On 19 December 2018, the European Commission proposed steps to ensure UK hauliers can continue carrying goods into the EU for a limited period after exiting.
DfT Response to Commission Contingency Plan
Find out more information and how to apply for an ECMT permit
Source: Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Dangerous Goods Transport (ADR Sharing)
The following information materials have been developed by the ECR EGTC ADR Expert Group for the purpose of sharing information in the field of transport of dangerous goods:
πADR Recognition of Danger Guidelines 2025Download the official dangerous goods classification and hazard guides (.PDF)
Transport Documents
The Community Code 95 in the driver attestation
Two different types of driver attestations have been issued in Poland and are equally valid.
