COMMISSION OPINION of 16 May 1974 addressed to the Irish Government, concerning two draft Regulations on the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 of 25 March 1969, on the harmonization of certain social legislation relating to road transport (74/293/EEC)

1. In accordance with Article 18 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 (1) of 25 March 1969 the Irish Government communicated to the Commission, by letters dated 28 March and 3 April 1973, two draft regulations concerning implementation of the abovementioned Regulation and a copy of the individual control book which the Government contemplates using. Furthermore, during conversations with the Commission's departments on 17 August in Dublin, a copy of a circular letter from the Department of Local Government, addressed to drivers, on the subject of the minimum ages and qualifications required for drivers engaged in international transport operations, was submitted to the Commission for its Opinion.

The draft regulation entitled "European Communities (Road Transport) (No 2) Regulations, 1973", drawn up by the Department of Labour, which was put before the Commission by a letter of 28 March 1973, provides for the control and penalties necessary for the implementation of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69.

More particularly: - Section 1 fixes the date of entry into force of the Regulations;

- Section 2 contains the definitions;

- Section 3 fixes the penalties;

- Section 4 concerns the authorizing warrant with which the inspecting officers must be furnished;

- Section 5 deals with the powers of authorized inspecting officers and fixes a fine for persons who obstruct these officers in the execution of their duties;

- Section 6 specifies that an offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

2. The draft regulation entitled "European Communities (Road Traffic) Regulations, 1973", drawn up by the Department of Local Government, which was put before the Commission by a letter of 3 April 1973, provides for the penalties to be imposed in the case of breach of the provisions of Article 5 (1) and (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69.

3. The circular letter from the Department of Local Government mentions the fact that Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 prescribes minimum ages and qualifications for certain drivers engaged in international transport operations. This circular states that these conditions apply to holders of Irish driving licences only while they are driving outside Irish territory in another Member State of the Community. In addition, at the discussions of 17 August in Dublin, the Irish representatives strongly emphasized that they interpret the term "international transport" as that part of the journey which is through foreign territory.

4. The Commission notes that the proposed regulations and the information circular partially meet the requirements of the EEC Regulation. It considers it must make the observations set out below: A. The Commission notes that the maximum fine imposed in case of breach is £ 100. It draws the Irish Government's attention to the need to promote harmonization of the penalties among the Member States. From this point of view it considers that the maximum fine provided for should be considerably higher.

B. Whereas other Member States have arranged for suspension of the transport permit for serious breaches, the Irish drafts do not contain any penalty of this kind. The Irish Government is therefore requested to consider introducing this penalty.

C. The Irish Government drew the Commission's attention to the fact that suspension of the driving licence is laid down as a penalty in the Road Traffic Act, 1961. However, it is not clear whether this penalty may be applied in the case of breach of the "European Communities (Road Traffic) Regulations, 1973" and/or the "European Communities (Road Transport) (No 2) (1)OJ No L 77, 29.3.1969, p. 49. Regulations, 1973". The Irish Government is therefore requested to inform the Commission on this point and to provide for that penalty if it does not yet exist.

D. Nor can it be said whether and to what extent Irish laws other than the two proposed regulations enable the authorities responsible for control to immobilize a driver with his vehicle for a certain period if he is not carrying an individual control book or has not kept his book up to date. The Irish Government is requested to inform the Commission about this point also and, where appropriate, to provide for the possibility.

E. The draft regulations contain no arrangements relating to compensations for reductions of the rest period as provided for in Article 11 (6) of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69. The Commission requests the Irish Government to make the provisions necessary for this purpose.

F. While respecting the reasons of internal relative jurisdiction which led to the Irish Government's submitting two separate draft regulations, the Commission considers that it would be advisable, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, to combine the two regulations in a single text, if this is possible.

G. The Irish Government's interpretation of the term "international transport operations" which appears in Article 19 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 is, admittedly, not defined in the Regulation, but this is because it is generally considered to be self-explanatory. The Community has always understood international transport to be all transport between the beginning of a journey and the destination. What the transport world generally considers international transport to be appears clearly from the following definitions taken from two high-level international agreements: 1. General agreement on the economic regulation of international road transport, 17 March 1954: - "International passenger transport shall be considered as any transport carried out by means of vehicles employed in the transport of persons and having, apart from the driver's seat, more than eight seats, provided the journey comprises the crossing of at least one frontier between two countries.

- International goods transport is transport carried out by means of a vehicle employed in the transport of goods, the point of departure and the destination being located in two different countries".

2. European agreement concerning the work of crews of vehicles engaged in international road transport (AETR) of 1 July 1970:

"For the purposes of the present Agreement the expression "international road transport" means road transport which involves the crossing of at least one frontier".

It should be noted that the AETR and the Community Regulation have been adapted to each other and that all the original Member States, by signing the AETR, expressed agreement with this definition, which, moreover they have applied since 1 October 1969.

Thus, any international transport operation constitutes a whole. Any division of such an operation into a stretch located in the vehicle's country of registration and a stretch located in other countries is artificial and should therefore not be allowed. As Regulation (EEC) No 543/69 applies to the whole distance covered by international transport, there can be no question of confirming its implementation to a part of the distance, as provided for by the Irish interpretation. Such an interpretation would, moreover, make it practically impossible to implement the Regulation since its result would be that the provisions concerning driving and rest periods and the qualifications of the driver would change at the frontier.

For all these reasons the Commission rejects the Irish interpretation. It considers that the Irish Government should revise the Department of Local Government's circular accordingly, and insists that the regulations proposed must apply to the whole of the international mileage.

5. In conclusion, and subject to the remarks under section 4 above and particularly to the requirement expressed under 4G, the Commission approves the draft regulations considered.

Done at Brussels, 16 May 1974.

For the Commission

The President

François-Xavier ORTOLI