The consultation sees stakeholders invited to respond in a full critique, including issues from the harmonisation of content and training processes across member states, to the inclusion of testing and the distribution of the training across the five-year period. 

In a statement the European Commission said the objective of this public consultation is ‘to provide input to the European Commission in order to assess how effectively the Directive has met its objectives and what specific action and measures may need to be adopted to improve its effectiveness. The European Commission needs to prepare for possible follow-up action and needs to assess what next steps, including a possible revision of the Directive, ought to be taken.’

It added that: ‘The European Commission also seeks the stakeholders' views on the main aspects of the Directive in order to assess the aspects of the Directive, which need to be clarified, modified or changed. In addition to the specific questions asked, in the final section respondents are invited to voice their views on other relevant aspects not explicitly mentioned.’

In response the UK’s Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said that it believes the review is timely with it being 10 years since the original legislation was introduced by the EC in July 2003. It added that it is pleased to have the opportunity on behalf of its members to submit their comments on the subject.

James Firth, FTA head of road freight and enforcement policy, said: ‘FTA welcomes this opportunity and believes that it is absolutely the right time for a review.  We see the Driver CPC as positive for the freight industry, as it encourages and ensures continuous professional development which we see as a cornerstone of any vocational profession.’

Firth added: ‘FTA members think that there is certainly room for improvement to the Driver CPC legislation, which was devised a decade ago and industry has five years’ experience of it to reflect upon.  We do need to be careful, however, not to fall into the trap of looking to the Commission to solve problems through regulation, and thus constraining the flexibilities of responsible operators who are already using Driver CPC to good effect.’

The consultation is open for 14 weeks and is available in electronic form only at: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/media/consultations/2013-professional-drivers-training_en.htm