ECJ 24 March 2021, joined cases C-870/19 and C-871/19 (Prefettura Ufficio territoriale del governo di Firenze), Working Time, Miscellaneous

• Summary

  Lorry, motor coach and bus drivers who, during an inspection, do not produce the record sheets for the tachograph relating to the current day and the previous 28 days are subject to a single penalty, irrespective of the number of missing record sheets.

• Questions

  Must Article 15(7) of Regulation No. 3821/85 and Article 19 of Regulation No. 561/2006 be interpreted as meaning that, should the driver of a road transport vehicle subject to an inspection fail to produce the record sheets of the recording equipment relating to several days of activity during the period covering the day of the inspection and the previous 28 days, the competent authorities of the Member State in which the inspection was carried out must impose on that driver a single penalty, for a single infringement, or rather several separate penalties for several separate infringements, the number of which corresponds to that of the missing record sheets?

• Ruling

  Article 15(7) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3821/85 of 20 December 1985 on recording equipment in road transport, as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 and Article 19 of Regulation No. 561/2006 must be interpreted as meaning that, should the driver of a road transport vehicle subject to an inspection fail to produce the record sheets of the recording equipment relating to several days of activity during the period covering the day of the inspection and the previous 28 days, the competent authorities of the Member State where the inspection was carried out must make a finding of a single infringement by that driver and impose on him or her only a single penalty for that infringement.