Published in:
Official State Gazette, No. 47 of February 23, 2013, pages 15283 to 15287 (5 pages).
Section:
I. General provisions
Department:
Ministry of the Presidency
Reference:
BOE-A-2013-2034
http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2013/02/23/pdfs/BOE-A-2013-2034.pdf
Directive 2002/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 11, 2002, on the organization of working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities, applies to mobile workers employed by companies established in a Member State and participating in road transport activities included in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 of 20 December 1985 on the harmonization of certain social legislation relating to road transport, or failing that, in the AETR Agreement, providing for its application to self-employed drivers from March 23, 2009, after the European Commission presented a report in order to either define the modalities of their inclusion within the scope of the Directive or to decide on their non-inclusion in the scope thereof.
Directive 2002/15/EC was transposed into domestic law by Royal Decree 902/2007, of July 6, which amends Royal Decree 1561/1995, of September 21, on special working hours, with regard to the working time of workers performing mobile road transport activities on behalf of others, thus excluding self-employed drivers.
The vote in the European Parliament on June 16, 2010, against the proposed amendment to Directive 2002/15/EC, to exclude self-employed drivers from its scope, led the Commission to decide that the said Directive was immediately applicable to self-employed drivers, as the date set for its application had passed, without setting any additional deadline for transposition.
Without prejudice to the above, driving time, breaks, and rest periods for drivers of road freight and passenger transport vehicles are regulated by Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the harmonization 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, which is directly applicable, and within whose scope self-employed drivers engaged in road transport are included, in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the said Regulation.
This Royal Decree, in line with the provisions of the Directive, is aimed at reinforcing the safety and health of mobile road transport workers, by transposing the said Community standard to the self-employed workers, making use of the authorization provided for in the third final provision of Law 20/2007, of July 11, on the Self-Employed Workers Statute.
This Royal Decree consists of seven articles, plus four final provisions. In its Articles 1 and 2, it includes the object and scope of application of the Royal Decree, as well as the definitions of the basic concepts considered therein. It continues its provisions by establishing minimum compliance provisions regarding working time (Article 3), rest times (Article 4), breaks (Article 5), and the obligation to record working time (Article 6). Finally, through its Article 7, it addresses the provisions relating to the control of compliance with the Royal Decree, which shall be the responsibility of the competent bodies of the General State Administration and the autonomous communities, considering their right of access and verification powers in the exercise of their functions. It also contains four final provisions on: competence title, execution power, incorporation of Union law, and entry into force, respectively.
In the process of drafting the draft, the autonomous communities were informed at the Sectoral Conference on Employment and Labor Affairs on July 17, 2012. In addition, the most representative associations of self-employed workers and employer and trade union organizations were consulted, as well as the National Land Transport Council and the National Road Transport Committee.
In accordance with the proposal of the Minister of Employment and Social Security and the Minister of Public Works, and in agreement with the Council of State and after deliberation by the Council of Ministers at its meeting on February 22, 2013,