EN Official Journal of the European Union L 185/16

COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2018/1034

of 16 July 2018

on the position to be taken, on behalf of the European Union, within the Joint Committee established under the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement), as regards draft Decision No x/xxxx of that Committee

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91 in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement) (1) (the ‘Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision of 3 October 2002 (2) and entered into force on 1 January 2003 (3).

(2) Pursuant to point (b) of Article 24(2) of the Agreement, the Joint Committee set up under Article 23 of the Agreement (the ‘Joint Committee’) amends or adapts control documents and other models of documents established in the Annexes to the Agreement. In order to incorporate future measures taken within the Union, and in accordance with point (c) of Article 24(2) of the Agreement, the Joint Committee amends or adapts Annex 1 regarding the conditions applying to road passenger transport operators, as well as Annex 2 concerning technical standards applying to buses and coaches. In accordance with point (e) of Article 24(2) of the Agreement, the Joint Committee also amends or adapts the requirements concerning the social provisions.

(3) The last update of Union legislation in the Agreement, which was introduced by Decision No 1/2011 of the Joint Committee (4), takes into account Union acts adopted until the end of 2009.

(4) The Joint Committee is to adopt a Joint Committee Decision updating the Agreement to legislative and technical progress, during its meetings in 2018.

(5) Council Decision (EU) 2016/1146 (5) established the European Union position on a draft Decision by the Joint Committee taking into account Union acts adopted until the end of 2015.

(6) In the course of negotiations with the other Contracting Parties (6) of the Agreement, it became clear that some amendments needed to be introduced to the text approved by the Council. These concerned, in particular, the relationship between the Union rules in respect of the smart tachograph and the European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport (AETR) (the ‘AETR Agreement’) and, given the situation in some Contracting Parties to the Interbus Agreement, a transitional period regarding the amounts of compensation established in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7).

(7) It is appropriate to repeal Council Decision (EU) 2016/1146 and to establish a new position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the Joint Committee, during its meetings in 2018, as the Decision to be adopted by that committee will be binding on the Union.

(8) The position of the Union within the meetings of the Joint Committee from 2018 should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be taken on behalf of the Union during the meetings of the Joint Committee set up under Article 23 of the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement) shall be based on the draft Decision of the Joint Committee attached to this Decision.

Article 2

Council Decision (EU) 2016/1146 is repealed.

Article 3

This decision and the decision of the Joint Committee shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 4

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 16 July 2018. For the Council The President J. BOGNER-STRAUSS

(1) OJ L 321, 26.11.2002, p. 13.

(2) Council Decision 2002/917/EC of 3 October 2002 on the conclusion of the Interbus Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (OJ L 321, 26.11.2002, p. 11).

(3) Information on the entry into force of the Interbus Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (OJ L 321, 26.11.2002, p. 44).

(4) Decision No 1/2011 of the Joint Committee established under the Interbus Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus of 11 November 2011 adopting its rules of procedure and adapting Annex 1 to the Agreement regarding the conditions applying to road passenger transport operators, Annex 2 to the Agreement concerning the technical standards applying to buses and coaches and the requirements concerning the social provisions referred to in Article 8 of the Agreement (OJ L 8, 12.1.2012, p. 38).

(5) Council Decision (EU) 2016/1146 of 27 June 2016 on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the Joint Committee established under the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement), as regards draft Decision No 1/2016 of that Committee (OJ L 189, 14.7.2016, p. 48).

(6) The Contracting Parties of the Interbus Agreement are the European Union, Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Republic of Turkey and Ukraine.

(7) Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 1).