1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 95/50/EC
of 6 October 1995
on uniform procedures for checks on the transport of dangerous goods by road
(OJ L 249, 17.10.1995, p. 35)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Directive 2001/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7
May 2001 L 168 23 23.6.2001
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 87, 8.4.2000, p. 34 (95/50/EC)
▼B
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 95/50/EC
of 6 October 1995
on uniform procedures for checks on the transport of dangerous
goods by road
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, andin particular Article 75 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of
the Treaty(3),
Whereas the Community has adopted a number of measures for the
establishment of an internal market comprising an area without internalfrontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services andcapital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty;
Whereas checks on the transport of dangerous goods by road are carried
out in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 4060/89 of 21
December 1989 on the elimination of controls performed at the frontiers
of Member States in the field of road and inland waterway transport(
4)
and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3912/92 of 17 December 1992 oncontrols carried out within the Community in the field of road and inlandwaterway transport in respect of means of transport registered or put intocirculation in a third country(
5);
Whereas the Council has adopted Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November
1994 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard
to the transport of dangerous goods by road(6); whereas the respective
procedures for checking and the definitions relating to this type oftransport should accordingly be harmonized in order for compliancewith the safety standards laid down therein to be verified more
effectively;
Whereas the Member States should ensure a sufficient level of checks on
the vehicles concerned throughout their territory while, where possible,avoiding the proliferation of such checks;
Whereas, in the light of the principle of subsidiarity, Community action
is therefore necessary to improve the level of safety of the transport ofdangerous goods;
Whereas checks should be carried out using a list of common items
applicable to such transport throughout the Community;
Whereas it is necessary to draw up a list of infringements deemed
sufficiently serious by all Member States to result in the application to
the vehicles concerned of appropriate measures depending on thecircumstances or the requirements of safety, including, where appro-priate, refusal to admit the vehicles concerned to the Community;
Whereas, in order to improve compliance with saftey standards for the
transport of dangerous goods by road, it is necessary to make provision
for checks to be carried out in undertakings as a preventive measure or
when serious infringements of laws on the transport of dangerous goodshave been recorded at the roadside;1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 26, 29. 1. 1994, p. 10 and OJ No C 238, 26. 8. 1994, p. 4.
(2) OJ No C 195, 18. 7. 1994, p. 18.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 3 May 1994 (OJ No C 205, 25. 7.
1994, p. 55), Council Common Position of 21 November 1994 (OJ No C 354,
13. 12. 1994, p. 1) and Decision of the European Parliament of 14 March1995 (OJ No C 89, 10. 4. 1995, p. 29).
(
4) OJ No L 390, 30. 12. 1989, p. 18. Regulation amended by Regulation (EEC)
No 3356/91 (OJ No L 318, 20. 11. 1991, p. 1).
(5) OJ No L 395, 31. 12. 1992, p. 6.
(6) OJ No L 319, 12. 12. 1994, p. 7.
▼B
Whereas the checks in question must apply to all consignments of
dangerous goods transported by road wholly or partly within theterritory of the Member States, irrespective of the point of departure or
the destination of the goods or the country in which the vehicle is
registered;
Whereas, in the event of serious or repeated infringements, the
competent authorities of the Member State in which the vehicle isregistered or in which the undertaking is established may be asked totake appropriate measures and whereas they shall inform the requestingMember State of any follow-up measures taken;
Whereas the application of this Directive should be monitored on the
basis of a report to be submitted by the Commission,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. This Directive shall apply to checks carried out by Member States
on the transport of dangerous goods by road in vehicles travelling in
their territory or entering it from athird country.
It shall not apply to the transport of dangerous goods by vehicles
belonging to or under the responsibility of the armed forces.
2. This Directive shall not, however, affect the Member States' right,
with due regard to Community law, to carry out checks on the nationaland international transport of dangerous goods within their territoriesperformed by vehicles not covered by this Directive.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive:
— ‘vehicle’ shall mean any motor vehicle intended for use on the road,
whether complete or incomplete, which has at least four wheels andama ximum design speed exceeding 25 km/h, together with itstrailers, with the exception of vehicles which run on rails, ofagricultural and forestry tractors and of all mobile machinery,
— ‘dangerous goods’ shall mean dangerous goods defined as such in
Directive 94/55/EC,
— ‘transport’ shall mean any road transport operation performed by a
vehicle wholly or partly on public roads within the territory of aMember State, including the loading and unloading of goods coveredby Directive 94/55/EC, without prejudice to the arrangements laiddown by the laws of the Member States concerning liability inrespect of such operations,
— ‘undertaking’ shall mean any natural or legal person, whether or not
profit-seeking, any association or group of persons without legalpersonality, whether or not profit-seeking, and any body coming
under a public authority, whether itself possessing legal personality
or dependent on an authority having such personality, which carry,load or unload dangerous goods or cause them to be carried andthose which temporarily store, collect, package or take delivery ofsuch goods as part of a transport operation and are located in theterritory of the Community,
— ‘check’ shall mean any check, control, inspection, verification or
formality carried out by the competent authorities for reasons ofsafety inherent in the transport of dangerous goods.
Article 3
1. The Member States shall ensure that a representative proportion of
consignments of dangerous goods transported by road is subject to thechecks laid down by this Directive, in order to check their compliancewith the laws on the transport of dangerous goods by road.
2. Such checks shall be carried out in the territory of a Member State
in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 4060/89 andArticle 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3912/92.1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 3
▼B
Article 4
1. In order to carry out the checks provided for in this Directive, the
Member States shall use the checklist in Annex I. A copy of this
checklist or a certificate showing the result of the check drawn up by the
authority which carried it out shall be given to the driver of the vehicleand presented on request in order to simplify or avoid, where possible,subsequent checks. This paragraph shall not prejudice Member States'right to carry out specific measures for detailed checks.
2. The checks shall be random and shall as far as possible cover an
extensive portion of the road network.
3. The places chosen for these checks must permit infringing vehicles
to be brought into compliance or, if the authority carrying out the checkdeems it appropriate to be immobilized on-the-spot or at a placedesginated for that purpose by the said authority without causing a safety
hazard.
4. Where appropriate and provided that this does not constitute a
safety hazard, samples of the goods transported may be taken forexamination by laboratories recognized by the competent authority.
5. Checks shall not exceed a reasonable length of time.
Article 5
Without prejudice to other penalties which may be imposed, vehicles in
respect of which one or more infringements of the rules on the transport
of dangerous goods, in particular infringements listed in Annex II, areestablished may be immobilized either on-the-spot or at a placedesignated for this purpose by the authorities carrying out the check andrequired to be brought into conformity before continuing their journey or
may be subject to other appropriate measures, depending on the
circumstances or the requirements of safety including, where appro-priate, refusal to allow such vehicles to enter the Community.
Article 6
1. Checks may also be carried out at the premises of undertakings, as
a preventive measure or where infringements which jeopardize safety inthe transport of dangerous goods have been recorded at the roadside.
2. The purpose of such checks shall be to ensure that safety
conditions for the transport of dangerous goods by road comply with therelevant laws.
Where one or more infringements, in particular those listed in Annex II,
have been established in respect of the transport of dangerous goods byroad, the transport in question shall be brought into conformity before
the goods leave the undertaking or shall be subject to other appropriate
measures.
Article 7
1. Member States shall assist one another in order to give proper
effect to this Directive.
2. Serious or repeated infringements jeopardizing the safety of the
transport of dangerous goods committed by a non-resident vehicle or
undertaking must be reported to the competent authorites in the Member
State in which the vehicle is registered or in which the undertaking isestablished.
The competent authorities of the Member State in which serious or
repeated infringements have been recorded may ask the competent
authorities of the Member State in which the vehicle is registered or in
which the undertaking is established for appropriate measures to betaken with regard to the offender or offenders.
The latter competent authorities shall notify the competent authorities of
the Member State in which the infringements were recorded of anymeasures taken with regard to the transporter or the undertaking.1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 4
▼B
Article 8
If the findings of a roadside check on a vehicle registered in another
Member State give grounds for believing that serious or repeatedinfringements have been committed which cannot be detected in thecourse of that check in the absence of the necessary data, the competent
authorities of the Member States concerned shall assist one another in
order to clarify the situation. Where, to that end, the competent MemberState carries out a check in the undertaking, the other Member Statesconcerned shall be notified of the results.
Article 9
1. Each Member State shall send the Commission for each calendar
year not later than twelve months after the end of that year a report,drawn up in accordance with the model in Annex III, on the applicationof this Directive, including the following particulars:
— if possible, determined or estimated volume of dangerous goods
transported by road (in tonnes transported or in tonnes/kilometres),
— number of checks carried out,
— number of vehicles checked by place of registration (vehicles
registered nationally, in other Member States or in third countries),
— number and types of infringements recorded,
— type and number of penalties imposed.
2. The Commission shall send the European Parliament and the
Council, for the first time in 1999 and subsequently at least every threeyears, a report on the application of this Directive by the Member States,stating the particulars in accordance with paragraph 1 above.
Article 9a
The amendments necessary to adapt the Annexes to scientific and
technical progress in the fields covered by this Directive, in particular totake account of amendments to Directive 94/55/EC, shall be adopted inaccordance with the procedure laid down in Article 9b.
Article 9b
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the committee on the
transport of dangerous goods set up by Article 9 of Directive 94/55/EC,hereinafter referred to as the Committee.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of
Decision 1999/468/EC(
1) shall apply, having regard to the provisions of
Article 8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 10
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1January 1997. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
When these provisions are adopted by the Member States, they shall
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by suchreference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods ofmaking such reference shall be laid down by the Member States.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of
the essential provisions of domestic law which they adopt in the fieldgoverned by this Directive.1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 5
(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.▼M1
▼B
▼B
Article 11
This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Communities .
Article 12
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 6
▼B
ANNEX I
►(1) (2)C1
►(3) (4)M11995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 7
▼B
►(1) (2) (3)M11995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 8
▼B
ANNEX II
INFRINGEMENTS
For the purposes of this Directive, the following in particular shall be regarded as
infringements:
1. goods not authorized for transport;
2. absence of consignor's declaration on the conformity of the goods and their
packaging with transport regulations;
3. vehicles which, on checking, display leaks of dangerous substances due to the
lack of leakproof integrity of tanks or packages;
4. vehicles with no type-approval certificate or with a non-regulation certificate;
5. vehicles lacking appropriate orange panels or with non-regulation orange
panels;
6. vehicles without safety instructions or with inappropriate ones;
7. inappropriate vehicle or packaging;8. driver without a regulation vocational training certificate for the carriage of
dangerous goods by road;
9. vehicles lacking fire extinguishers;
10. vehicles or packages without regulation danger labels;11. vehicles lacking transport/accompanying documents, or with particulars
relating to the dangerous goods on board which are not in compliance with
the regulations;
12. vehicles not covered by a bilateral/multilateral agreement or not in
compliance with the agreement;
13. overfilling of tank.1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 9
▼B
ANNEX III
1995L0050 — EN — 23.06.2001 — 001.001 — 10