COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2121/98 of 2 October 1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulations (EEC) No 684/92 and (EC) No 12/98 as regards documents for the carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 of 16 March 1992 on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus (1), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 11/98 (2), and in particular point 3.4 of Article 2 and Articles 5(4), 6(2), 11(5) and 13(3) thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 12/98 of 11 December 1997 laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a Member State (3), and in particular Articles 6(2) and (3) and 7(1) thereof,
After consulting the committee established by Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 12/98,
1. Whereas Article 4(4) of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 provides that regular services and certain special regular services are to be subject to authorisation;
2. Whereas Article 11(1) of that Regulation states that occasional services are to be carried out under cover of a journey form;
3. Whereas Article 13(1) of that Regulation provides that own-account transport operations are to be subject to a system of certificates;
4. Whereas rules should also be laid down governing the use of the journey form referred to in Article 11 of that Regulation and the means of communicating to the Member States concerned the names of the carriers carrying out those services and of the connection points en route;
5. Whereas the Commission adopted Regulation (EEC) No 1839/92 of l July 1992 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 as regards documents for the international carriage of passengers (4), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden; whereas that Regulation has been amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2944/93 (5) in order to standardise, for reasons of simplicity, the control documents for shuttle services with accommodation and for occasional services;
6. Whereas Regulation (EC) No 11/98 abolished the concept of shuttle services and simplified the definition of occasional services by abolishing the concept of residual occasional services;
7. Whereas it is necessary to standardise, for reasons of simplicity, the journey form for international occasional services and for occasional services in the form of cabotage provided for in Regulation (EC) No 12/98;
8. Whereas the journey form used as a control document in the framework of special regular services in the form of cabotage must be completed in the form of a monthly statement;
9. Whereas, for reasons of transparency and simplicity, all the model documents laid down by Regulation (EEC) No 1839/92 should be adapted to the new regulatory framework applicable to international coach and bus services and that Regulation should be replaced by the present Regulation;
10. Whereas Member States need time to have the new documents printed and distributed;
11. Whereas carriers should in the meantime be able to continue to use the documents provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 1839/92 and Council Regulation (EEC) No 2454/92 (6), suitably amended where necessary to take account of Regulations (EEC) No 684/92 and (EC) No 12/98,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
CONTROL DOCUMENT - JOURNEY FORM
Article 1
1. The control document - journey form for the occasional services referred to in point 3.1 of Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 shall conform to the model in Annex I to this Regulation.
2. The control document - journey form for the occasional services referred to in point 3 of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 12/98 shall conform to the model in Annex I to this Regulation.
3. The journey forms shall be in books of 25 forms, in duplicate, and detachable. Each book shall bear a number. The forms shall also be numbered from l to 25. The cover of the book shall conform to the model in Annex II to this Regulation. Member States shall take all necessary measures to adapt these requirements to computerised processing of journey forms.
Article 2
1. The book provided for in Article 1(3) shall be made out in the name of the carrier; it may not be transferred.
2. The journey form shall be filled in legibly in indelible letters, in duplicate, either by the carrier or by the driver for each journey prior to departure. It shall be valid for the entire journey.
3. The top copy of the journey form shall be kept on the vehicle during the whole of the journey to which it refers. A copy shall be kept at the company's base.
4. The carrier shall be responsible for keeping the journey forms.
Article 3
In the case of an international occasional service provided by a group of carriers acting on behalf of the same contractor, and which may include the travellers catching a connection en route with a different carrier of the same group, the original of the journey form shall be kept on the vehicle carrying out the service. A copy of the journey form shall be kept at the base of each carrier.
Article 4
1. Copies of the journey forms used as control documents for occasional services in the form of cabotage pursuant to Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 12/98 shall be returned by the carrier to the competent authority or agency in the Member State of establishment in accordance with procedures to be laid down by that authority or agency.
2. In the case of special regular services in the form of cabotage pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 12/98, the journey form as set out in Annex I to this Regulation shall be completed in the form of a monthly statement and returned by the carrier to the competent authority or agency in the Member State of establishment in accordance with procedures to be laid down by that authority or agency.
Article 5
The journey form shall enable the holder, in the course of an international occasional service, to carry out local excursions in a Member State other than that in which the carrier is established, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the second paragraph of Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92. The local excursions shall be entered on the journey forms before the departure of the vehicle on the excursion concerned. The original of the journey form shall be kept on board the vehicle for the duration of the local excursion.
Article 6
The control document shall be presented to any enforcement official on request.
CHAPTER II
AUTHORISATIONS
Article 7
1. Applications for authorisation of regular services and special regular services subject to authorisation shall conform to the model in Annex III.
2. Applications for authorisation shall contain the following information:
(a) the timetable;
(b) fare scales;
(c) a certified true copy of the Community licence for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus for hire or reward provided for in Article 3a of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92;
(d) information concerning the type and volume of the service which the applicant plans to provide, in the case of an application to create a service, or which has been provided, in the case of an application for renewal of an authorisation;
(e) a map on an appropriate scale, on which are marked the route and stopping points where passengers are to be taken up or set down;
(f) a driving schedule to permit verification of compliance with the Community legislation on driving and rest periods.
3. Applicants shall provide any further information which they consider relevant or which is requested by the issuing authority in support of the application.
Article 8
1. Authorisations shall conform to the model in Annex IV.
2. Each vehicle carrying out a service subject to authorisation shall have on board an authorisation or a copy certified by the issuing authority.
CHAPTER III
CERTIFICATES
Article 9
1. Certificates for the own-account transport operations defined in point 4 of Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 shall conform to the model in Annex V to this Regulation.
2. Undertakings requesting a certificate shall provide the issuing authority with evidence or an assurance that the conditions laid down in point 4 of Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 have been met.
3. Each vehicle carrying out a service subject to a system of certificates shall carry on board for the duration of the journey a certificate or a certified true copy, which shall be presented to enforcement officials on request.
4. Certificates shall be valid for a maximum of five years.
CHAPTER IV
COMMUNICATION OF STATISTICAL DATA
Article 10
The data on cabotage transport operations referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 12/98 shall be communicated in tabular form in accordance with the model in Annex VI to this Regulation.
CHAPTER V
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 11
Regulation (EEC) No 1839/92 shall be repealed with effect from 31 December 1999.
Article 12
Member States may authorise the use of the journey forms, applications for authorisation, authorisations and certificates drawn up in conformity with Regulation (EEC) No 1839/92 and with Regulation (EEC) No 2454/92 until 31 December 1999 at the latest, provided that they are amended, legibly, indelibly and appropriately in so far as is necessary, in order to conform to Regulations (EEC) No 684/92, (EC) No 12/98 and this Regulation.
The other Member States shall accept those documents on their territory until 3l December 1999.
Article 13
Member States shall take the necessary measures to implement this Regulation and forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
Article 14
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply from 11 December 1998, except for Articles 1(2), 4 and 10, which shall apply from 11 June 1999.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 2 October 1998.