56 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
12.8.71 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL182/17
COMMISSION DECISION
of28July1971
onadisputebetweenFranceandtheNetherlandsonthefixingoftariffratesforthe
carriageofgoodsbyroadbetweenthetwocountriesinimplementation ofCouncil
Regulation(EEC)No1174/68
(OnlytheFrenchandDutchtextsareauthentic)
(71/301/EEC)
THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuro­
peanEconomicCommunity;
HavingregardtoCouncilRegulation (EEC)No
1174/681of30July1968ontheintroductionofa
systemofbrackettariffsforthecarriageofgoodsby
roadbetweenMemberStates,andinparticularAr­
ticles2to4thereof;
WhereasFrance,byletterof24May1971fromthe
OfficeofitsPermanentRepresentative ,andthe
Netherlands,byletterof23June1971,fromtheOf­
ficeofitsPermanentRepresentative ,referredtothe
Commission,pursuanttoArticle4(2)(b)of;Regu­
lation(EEC)No1174/68,thedisputewhichhas
arisenbetweenthosecountriesoncertainaspectsof
thetariffinrespectofroadtransportbetween
FranceandtheNetherlands ;
Whereasatthemeetingwiththerepresentatives of
theCommissionon21June1971,therepresentatives
ofthetwoMemberStatesnotifiedtheCommission ,
inaccordancewithArticle4(2(a)ofthesaidRegu­
lation,oftheiragreementonallaspectsofthattariff
whicharenotthesubjectofthedisputewhichhas
beenreferredtotheCommission ;
Whereasthedisputerelatestothegenerallevelof
thetariffratesandtothedifferentiation oftherates
bytariffclassesofgoods;
WhereastheNetherlandsconsidersthatratespro­
posedjointlybyFrenchandNetherlandscarriersfor
thedifferenttariffclasses,intheproposalpublished
intheJournalOjficieldelaRepubliquefrancaiseof
25November1970,arejustified,havingregardto
Article3ofRegulation(EEC)No1174/68,inparti­cularbythecostofthecorrespondingtransportoper­
ationseffectedbyNetherlandscarriers;
WhereasFrance,ontheotherhand,considersthat
theratesproposedbythecarriersaretoohigh,that
thedifferentiation oftheratesbytariffclassesis
excessiveandthat,fortheratestobeinlinewith
Article3ofRegulation (EEC)No1174/68,they
shouldbereducedby25%forupto125km,bya
percentagedecreasinggraduallyfrom25to8%for
distancesoffrom126to200kmandby8%for
distancesof201kmandover,andthattheratesfor
tariffclassIshouldbefixedat110%andthoseof
tariffclassIVat85%oftheratesfortariffclassII;
WhereasFranceisoftheopinionthat,inthiscon­
nection,thecostincrease,onwhichthecarriersbased
their1970proposal,exceedforFrenchcarriers,when
comparedwithatariffproposedbythelatterin
1967,thecostincreaseswhichhaveactuallyoccurred
sincethen;whereasthereturnonwhichthecarriers
basetheircalculationisexcessivehavingregardto
theconceptof'fairreturns'withinthemeaningof
thesecondsubparagraphofArticle3(1)ofthesaid
Regulation;whereasthecarriers'costcalculationsdo
nottakeaccountoftheneedforonlyonedriverfor
shorthaulsandwhereasthevariationsinthedif­
ferentiationofratesbytariffclassesappeartoexag­
geratethedifferentialcostoftransport;
-Whereas,pursuanttoArticle3ofRegulation(EEC)
No1174/68'eachtariffshallbedrawnupbyrefer­
encetoabase-rate,whichshallbethemiddlepoint
ofthebracket',thebracketspreadbeing23%ofthe
maximumrate;whereas'thebase-rateshallbefixed
havingregardbothtotheaveragecostofthetrans­
portoperationconcerned,includingthegeneralex­
pensesofthebusiness,foraproperlymanagedun­
dertakingenjoyingnormalconditionsofuseofits
carryingcapacity,andtomarketconditionsandshall
besuchastoprovideafairreturnforcarriers';
whereas'tariffsmayvaryaccordingtothecircum­ 1OJNoL194,6.8.1968,p.1.

OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 57
posalbytheFrenchandNetherlandscarrierspub­
lishedintheJournalOfficieldelaRepubliquefran­
gaiseof25November1970,less:
-11-5%fordistancesof121to130km:
-2%fordistancesof291to300km;
-0%fordistancesof441to460km;
-4-5%fordistancesof781to800km;
-5-5%fordistancesof1151to1200kmandabove.
Fordistancesbetweenthoseshowninthefirstsub­
paragraph,therateshallbereckonedbylinearpro­
gression.
Article2
Theratesforconsignmentsofgoodsfallingwithin
tariffclassIshallbethosefortariffclassII,plus
12-5%.
Theratesforconsignmentsofgoodsfallingwithin
tariffclassesIIIandIVshallbethoseforclassII,
less7-5%and17-5%respectively.stancesoftheserviceprovidedandinparticularac­
cordingtothetechnicalandeconomiccharacteristics
oftheoperationinquestion,therouteconcerned,the
lengthofthetransitperiod,thetonnageconditions
andthetypeofgoodscarried';
Whereas,asregardstheleveloftherates,
-infixingthebase-ratesofthetariffs,accountmust
betakenoftheaveragecostofthecorresponding
transportoperationeffectedbyFrenchandNether­
landscarriers;
'-thepercentageincreasesince1967,mentioned^by
France,hasreferencetotransportcostsandnotto
thetariffproposedbythecarriersin1967,the'
relationshipofwhichtothosecostswasnotthat
providedforinRegulation(EEC)No1174/68;
-fordeterminingvehiclecrewcosts,accountmust
betakenoftheprovisionsofCouncilRegulation
(EEC)No543/691of23March1969onthehar­
monizationofcertainsociallegislationrelatingto
roadtransport;
-theaverageprofitmargintakenforcalculationof
theratesshouldcorrespondtowhatiscustomary
inthatsector;
Whereas,havingregardtotheprovisionsofArticle3
ofRegulation(EEC)No1174/68,accountshouldbe
taken,inthedifferentiation oftheratesbytariff
classesofthecriteriaemployedforthebreakdownof
goodsbetweentariffclasses;
Whereastheratedifferentialsfortonnageconditions
otherthan20metrictons,shouldtakeaccount,in
particular,oftheactualconditionsofcarriageofcon­
signmentsinthedifferentcategoriesofvehicles;
AfterconsultingtheCommitteeofExpertssetupby
Article11ofRegulation(EEC)No1174/68,Article3
Theratesforothertonnageconditionsshallbethose
forthe20metrictonsconditionsplus:
-7-5%forthe15metrictonscondition;
-26-5%forthe10metrictonscondition;
-50%forthe7metrictonscondition;
-76%forthe5metrictonscondition .
Article4
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheFrenchRepublic
andtotheKingdomoftheNetherlands .Itshallbe
communicated totheotherMemberStates.
Article5
ThisDecisionshallbecomeeffectiveafteraperiodof
20daysfromitsnotification,unlessaMemberState
refersthemattertotheCouncil.HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1 DoneatBrussels,28July1971.
FortheCommissionForconsignmentsinthe20metrictonsconditionsof
goodsfallingwithintariffclassII,theupperlimit
ofthebrackettarifffortransportbetweenFrance
andtheNetherlandsshallbethatsetoutinthepro­ThePresident
FrancoM.MALFATTI
1OJNoL77,293.1969,p.49.