The Community shall enter into any negotiations with third countries which may prove necessary for the purpose of implementing this Regulation.

Article 24

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee set up under Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 25

1. At the request of a Member State, or on its own initiative, the Commission shall:

(a) examine cases where differences in the application and enforcement of any of the provisions of this Regulation arise and particularly concerning driving times, breaks and rest periods;

(b) clarify the provisions of this Regulation, with a view to promoting a common approach.

2. In the cases referred to in paragraph 1 the Commission shall take a decision on a recommended approach in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2). The Commission shall communicate its decision to the European Parliament, the Council and to the Member States.

CHAPTER VI

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 26

Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 is hereby amended as follows:

Article 2 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 2

For the purpose of this Regulation the definitions set out in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98(13) shall apply.

Article 3(1), (2) and (3) shall be replaced as follows:

‘1. Recording equipment shall be installed and used in vehicles registered in a Member State which are used for the carriage of passengers or goods by road, except the vehicles referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006. Vehicles referred to in Article 16(1) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 and vehicles, which were exempt from the scope of application of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85, but which are no longer exempt under Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 shall have until 31 December 2007 to comply with this requirement.

2. Member States may exempt vehicles mentioned in Articles 13(1) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 from application of this Regulation.

3. Member States may, after authorisation by the Commission, exempt from application of this Regulation vehicles used for the transport operations referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006.’;

Article 14(2) shall be replaced as follows:

‘2. The undertaking shall keep record sheets and printouts, whenever printouts have been made to comply with Article 15(1), in chronological order and in a legible form for at least a year after their use and shall give copies to the drivers concerned who request them. The undertaking shall also give copies of downloaded data from the driver cards to the drivers concerned who request them and the printed papers of these copies. The record sheets, printouts and downloaded data shall be produced or handed over at the request of any authorised inspecting officer.’;

Article 15 shall be amended as follows: