THE European Parliament has set the stage for a final deal on legislation regulating the working times of commercial drivers of vans and lorries of 3.5 tonnes or more.

It has asked European Union (EU) ministers to approve a directive and regulation that order weekend breaks for such drivers, of at least 45 hours consecutive rest fortnightly.

There is potential for disagreement, with the EU Council of Ministers currently proposing daily rest periods of 11 hours, while MEPs voted last week for 12 hours.

Also, regarding shorter compulsory daily breaks, the parliament wants a more flexible solution than the detailed system suggested by ministers.

MEPs also voted for working time to include driving to pick up a lorry or van, if that journey exceeded 100km. And they voted to postpone the compulsory introduction of the digital tachograph across the EU to an effective deadline of August 2007, rather than the original August 2005 proposal.