The introduction of the digital tachograph will give a major impulse to road safety by ensuring that professional drivers keep their driving and rest times.
However the implementation of European Union legislation is extremely complex for all actors: Member States and their national authorities responsible for card issuing, enforcement, policy implementation, and also related stakeholders from industry such as tachograph, card and vehicle manufacturers, etc.

The 'Monitoring of the Implementation of Digital Tachograph' (MIDT) Project, partly financed by the European Commission, has been introduced by the Swedish Road Administration in order to support concrete implementation measures in all 25 Member States of the European Union. Furthermore the implementation of the digital tachograph also has a great impact on road transport in European Economic Area (EEA) countries, Switzerland, and generally speaking by all countries covered by the European Agreement concerning the work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport (AETR).

The real implementation of the digital tachograph is a very complex operation for Member States that relates to:

• Approving a security policy at national level,
• Issuing tachograph smart cards,
• Adopting national laws on data management and data protection,
• Adopting national laws on enforcement (roadside and company checks),
• Training and equipping national control officers,
• Approving workshops for installation, activation, calibration, inspection, downloading, repair and replacement of the digital tachograph,
• Supporting the industry for the introduction of new digital equipments in vehicles,
• Supporting vehicle manufacturers in switching from analogue to digital tachographs.

The 'Monitoring of the Implementation of Digital Tachograph' Project is supported by:

• All EU Member States,
• All 3 EEA Member States and Switzerland,
• All tachograph manufacturers,
• All vehicle manufacturers through the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA),
• All transport companies through the International Road Union (IRU)