6. TRANSPORT POLICY

1. 31985 R 3821: Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 of 20 December 1985 on recording equipment in road transport (OJ L 370, 31.12.1985, p. 8), as last amended by:

- 32002 R 1360: Commission Regulation (EC) No 1360/2002 of 13.6.2002 (OJ L 207, 5.8.2002, p. 1).

By way of derogation from Article 3(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, the requirement of installation and use of recording equipment in vehicles registered for the carriage of passengers or goods by road shall not apply in Latvia until 1 January 2005 to vehicles registered before 1 January 2001 and engaged exclusively in domestic transport operations. Drivers of such vehicles shall record their driving times and rest periods using a personal log book.

2. 31993 R 3118: Council Regulation (EEC) No 3118/93 of 25 October 1993 laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road haulage services within a Member State (OJ L 279, 12.11.1993, p. 1), as last amended by:

- 32002 R 0484: Regulation (EC) No 484/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 1.3.2002 (OJ L 76, 19.3.2002, p. 1).

(a) By way of derogation from Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3118/93 and until the end of the second year following the date of accession, carriers established in Latvia shall be excluded from the operation of national road haulage services in the other Member States, and carriers established in the other Member States shall be excluded from the operation of national road haulage services in Latvia.

(b) Before the end of the second year following the date of accession, Member States shall notify the Commission whether they will prolong this period for a maximum of two years or whether they will fully apply Article 1 of the Regulation henceforth. In the absence of such notification, Article 1 of the Regulation shall apply. Only carriers established in those Member States in which Article 1 of the Regulation applies may perform national road haulage services in those other Member States in which Article 1 also applies.

(c) Before the end of the fourth year following the date of accession, in case of serious disturbances, or threat thereof, in the national road haulage market, Member States in which Article 1 of the Regulation does not apply by virtue of paragraph (b) above shall notify the Commission whether they will prolong this period for a maximum of one year or whether they will fully apply Article 1 of the Regulation henceforth. In the absence of such notification, Article 1 of the Regulation shall apply. Only carriers established in those Member States in which Article 1 of the Regulation applies may perform national road haulage services in those other Member States in which Article 1 also applies.

(d) As long as Article 1 of the Regulation does not fully apply in all Member States, those Member States in which Article 1 of the Regulation applies by virtue of paragraph (b) or (c) above may resort to the procedure set out below.

When a Member State referred to in the preceding subparagraph undergoes a serious disturbance of its national market or parts thereof due to or aggravated by cabotage, such as serious excess of supply over demand or a threat to the financial stability or survival of a significant number of road haulage undertakings, that Member State shall inform the Commission and the other Member States thereof and shall supply them with all relevant particulars. On the basis of this information, the Member State may request the Commission to suspend, in whole or in part, the application of Article 1 of the Regulation, in order to restore to normal the situation.

The Commission shall examine the situation on the basis of data provided by the Member State concerned and shall decide within one month of receipt of the request on the need for the adoption of safeguard measures. The procedure laid down in the second, third and fourth subparagraphs of paragraph 3, as well as paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of Article 7 of the Regulation shall apply.

A Member State referred to in the first subparagraph above may, in urgent and exceptional cases, suspend the application of Article 1 of the Regulation, followed by a reasoned ex-post notification to the Commission.

(e) As long as Article 1 of the Regulation is not applied by virtue of paragraphs (a) to (c) above, Member States may regulate access to their national road haulage services by progressively exchanging cabotage authorisations on the basis of bilateral agreements. This may include the possibility of full liberalisation.

(f) The effect of the application of paragraphs (a) to (d) shall not lead to more restrictive access to national road haulage services than that prevailing on the date of signature of the Treaty of Accession.

3. 31996 L 0026: Council Directive 96/26/EC of 29 April 1996 on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator and road passenger transport operator and mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications intended to facilitate for these operators the right to freedom of establishment in national and international transport operations (OJ L 124, 23.5.1996, p. 1), as last amended by:

- 31998 L 0076: Council Directive 98/76/EC of 1.10.1998 (OJ L 277, 14.10.1998, p. 17).

Until 31 December 2006, Article 3(3)(c) of Directive 96/26/EC shall not apply in Latvia to transport undertakings engaged exclusively in domestic road haulage and passenger transport operations.

The available capital and the reserves of those undertakings shall gradually reach the minimum rates laid down in that Article in accordance with the following schedule:

- by 1 January 2004, the undertaking must have available capital and reserves of at least EUR 3000per vehicle used or EUR 150 per tonne of the maximum authorised weight of the road haulage vehicles used by the undertaking, or EUR 150 per seat of the passenger transport vehicles used by the undertaking, whichever is the lower;

- by 1 January 2005, the undertaking must have available capital and reserves of at least EUR 6750 when only one vehicle is used and at least EUR 3750 for each additional vehicle.

--------------------------------------------------