Head of European Policy & Brexit for the Freight Transport Association (FTA), Pauline Bastion spoke to the Express.co.uk about the impact of leaving the EU on the freight and logistics industry. Ms Bastidon manages the Brussels office of FTA and represents the interests of members towards EU and UK institutions. She revealed the EU policy that her industry would benefit most from leaving behind is the working time directive.

She said: “Opportunities where changing things will help includes the working time directives for mobile workers.

“That’s once point where our members have long been of the view that the excavation of the working time directive to workers were already subject to the rigours of the driving hours rules for haulage and is a significant regulatory burden with little demonstrable benefit.

“And the reason for that is that you have two sets of rules trying to assess and control more or less the same thing.

“And it sometimes creates more confusion than it helps necessarily from a drivers wellbeing perspective.”

The Working Time Directive is a European Union law that says that people are not allowed to work more than 48 hours a week on average, among other things including holiday.

The directive is unpopular, in part, because of the way it was imposed in 1993.

At the time Britain was not covered by social rules because the prime minister, John Major, had opted out of the so-called Social Chapter.

But the EU Commission pushed through the legislation on the grounds that it was a health and safety issue.

Although the government took the Commission to the European Court of Justice arguing it was overstepping its authority, it lost.

In 2005, the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 came into effect.

The regulations affect mobile workers (drivers, vehicle crew and others forming part of the travelling staff) who are also subject to the EU drivers’ hours rules.

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This was the first time that mobile workers were subject to restrictions on the number of hours they could work on average each week and at night.

Ms Bastidon told the Express.co.uk what the freight industry would rather have than the directive: “One of the things we had suggested was to do a three-in-one driver card.

“So we thought it would be nice for drivers to carry just one digital card so it would cover the tachograph card, the driver qualification charge and proof of the driver license.

“And that it might be better for the exam, and standards that the drivers must meet in order to be able to operate as commercial drivers, to have different rules/roles for international and domestic.

“Because if you’re only driving very locally there are things that will not necessarily be extremely relevant if you never have to go on the motorway because you’re just doing urban deliveries, for instance.”

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