Inés Ayala Sender (PSE). – (ES) Mr President, I would like to congratulate Mr Markov on his excellent work and congratulate all of us on having reached the best possible agreement in an urgent and difficult area, since it involves improving road safety and the working conditions for drivers, guaranteeing legal certainty and fair competition and finally giving the go-ahead for digital tachographs.

I believe that it is also an agreement that achieved the social convergence of 25 Member States and that is a very good political sign in terms of gradually removing the disturbing risk of social dumping.

I understand Mr Markov's frustration, however, because it has not been possible to use this legislation as a lever to make progress on working time. Nevertheless, I believe that it will be useful, and we will see that in the future.

As in all good agreements, therefore, the particular interests of the parties have been partially frustrated for the sake of the general interest, but the truth is that significant progress has been made in the area of breaks, daily and weekly breaks and weekly hours, as well as the establishment of more and stricter controls and penalties that are trans-national. Furthermore, it obliges the Member States, and commits the Commission, to internationalising this progress in the AETR Agreement and, of course, there is no excuse to delay the introduction of tachographs.

We have therefore managed to balance rigour and flexibility, harmonisation and subsidiarity; in other words, it is a miracle, though a secular one of course.

I shall end by supporting Mr Markov’s demands that the Commission study the impact of smaller lorries on road safety, promote cooperation amongst controlling authorities and hold seminars with social partners.

Finally, I shall add a request: could there please be a study of the impact of this legislation on the conditions for drivers and on the guarantee of equal competition conditions for the outlying countries, such as my own.