Council Regulation (EC) on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods by road (97/C 341/05) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(97) 443 final - 97/0233(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 11 September 1997)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof,

Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Wheres to carry out the tasks entrusted to it in the context of the Community transport policy, the Commission must have at its disposal comparable, reliable, synchronized, regular and comprehensive statistical data on the scale and development of the carriage of goods by road by means of vehicles registered in the European Union, and on the degree of utilization of vehicles carrying out this transport;

Whereas Council Directive 78/546/EEC of 12 June 1978 on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods by road as part of regional statistics (1), as amended by Council Directive 89/462/EEC (2), makes no provisions for returns on types of transport which were not authorized at the time when these Directives were adopted; whereas the returns for which provision is made supply different information for national and international transport; and whereas they provide no information on the degree of utilization of vehicles carrying out this transport;

Whereas Council Decision 93/464/EEC of 22 July 1993 on the framework programme for priority actions in the field of statistical information 1993 to 1997 (3) stressed the need to compile such comprehensive regional statistics with regard to both the carriage of goods and vehicle journeys;

Whereas it is therefore appropriate to amend the system laid down by Council Directive 78/546/EEC;

Whereas the collection of Community statistical data on a comparable or harmonized basis enables the provision of an integrated system with reliable, consistent and up-to-date information;

Whereas communication of the full results collected, once rendered anonymous, is necessary in order to estimate the overall accuracy of the results;

Whereas, within a certain period, the Commission is to submit a report reviewing the operation of this Regulation;

Whereas, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the creation of common statistical standards enabling the production of harmonized information can only be tackled efficiently at Community level while data will be collected in each Member State under the authority of the bodies and institutions in charge of compiling official statistics;

Whereas the use of existing information in administrative registers may enable the statistical burden imposed on the parties responsible for providing information to be limited;

Whereas, during the start-up period, the Community will need to provide the Member States with a financial contribution for the execution of the necessary work;

Whereas the Statistical Programme Committee established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (4), has been consulted in accordance with Article 3 of the abovementioned Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

General provision

The Member States shall compile Community statistics on the carriage of goods by road by means of goods road motor vehicles registered in a Member State, and on the journeys made by such vehicles.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following terms shall have the meanings hereinafter assigned to them:

1. Carriage of goods by road: all transport of goods by means of a goods road motor vehicle.

2. Goods road motor vehicle: any single goods motor vehicle, articulated vehicle or road train designed to carry goods, such as a lorry with or without trailer, or a road tractor with semi-trailer.

This Regulation shall not apply to carriage of goods by road by means of:

(a) goods road motor vehicles whose permitted weight or dimensions exceed the normal permitted limits;

(b) agricultural vehicles, military vehicles and vehicles used by central governments and public services, with the exception of goods road motor vehicles used by the railway administration.

Each Member State may exclude from the field of application of this Regulation goods road motor vehicles whose load capacity or maximum permissible laden weight is lower than a certain limit. This limit may not exceed a load capacity of 3,5 tonnes or maximum permissible laden weight of 6 tonnes.

3. Registered: the state of having been entered in a register of goods road vehicles, kept by an official body in a Member State, whether or not the registration is completed with the issue of a registration plate.

In case of carriage by means of a coupled combination of goods road vehicles, in which the road motor vehicle (lorry or road tractor) and the trailer or semi-trailer are registered in different countries, the complete vehicle shall be deemed to be registered in the country where the road motor vehicle unit is registered.

Article 3

Characteristics of data collection

1. The Member States shall collect characteristics relating to the following domains:

(a) vehicle-related data;

(b) journey-related data;

(c) goods-related data.

2. The statistical variables in each domain, their definition and the levels within the classification used for their breakdown are set out in the Annexes to this Regulation.

3. When determining the method to be used for compiling statistical data, the Member States shall refrain from carrying out any formalities at frontiers between Member States.

Article 4

Access to administrative registers

The national statistical authorities responsible for implementing this Regulation shall have access to the extracts from the administrative records containing the data necessary for compiling the statistics referred to in this Regulation.

Article 5

Accuracy of results

The methods for the collection of data will be developed to ensure that the statistical results transmitted by the Member States meet minimum standards of accuracy. These standards are determined by the Commission, especially by the maximum coefficients of variation for certain variables and levels of breakdown, in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 12.

Article 6

Processing of information

Member States shall process the information collected in accordance with Article 3 in order to obtain comparable statistics with the accuracy required within the meaning of Article 5.

Article 7

Transmission of results to the Statistical Office

1. Member States shall transmit full results corresponding to the variables referred to in Article 3, and statistical tables based on these variables, including confidential data, in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 (5) of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

The content of the statistical tables based on the variables referred to in Article 3 shall be defined by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12.

2. The full results and the statistical tables shall be provided in the form of data files. The data files and data media to be used for transmitting them shall be specified by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12.

3. The transmission shall take place within five months of the end of each quarterly period of observation and within eight months of the end of the year for data of annual periodicity. The first transmission shall cover the first quarter of 1998.

Article 8

Reports

1. The Member States shall forward to the Commission (Eurostat), on or before the date on which the first quarterly information is forwarded, a detailed report on the methods used in compiling data.

Member States shall also forward to the Commission (Eurostat) details of any substantial changes in the methods used to collect the data.

2. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with information each year on sample sizes, non-response rates and, in the form of standard error of confidence intervals, the reliability of the results.

3. After data has been collected over three years, the Commission shall transmit a report to the Council on experience acquired in the work carried out pursuant to this Regulation.

Article 9

Dissemination of results

The provisions the dissemination of the statistical results on the carriage of goods by road shall be defined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12.

Article 10

Financial contribution

1. During the first three years of implementation of the statistical returns provided for by this Regulation, the Member States shall receive a contribution in the form of financial assistance from the Community towards the expenditure incurred in carrying out the work involved.

2. The amount of the appropriations allocated to this each year shall be fixed as part of the annual budgetary procedure.

3. The Budgetary Authority shall determine the appropriations available for each year.

Article 11

Implementing procedures

The procedures for implementing this Regulation, including measures for adaptation to economic and technical developments, in particular:

- adaptation of the data collection characteristics (Article 3) and of the contents of the Annexes to this Regulation,

- accuracy requirements (Article 5),

- the description of the record of the data files and codes for transmission of the full results and the statistical tables, as well as their method of transmission to the Commission (Article 7),

- dissemination of results (Article 9),

shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 12.

Article 12

Procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Decision 89/382/EEC Euratom (hereinafter referred to as 'the Committee`).

2. The Commission representative shall submit to the Commission a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter in question. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority vote laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community in the case of decisions which the Council of the European Union is called on to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote.

The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately. However, if these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission on the Council of the European Union forthwith.

In that case:

- the Commission shall defer application of the measures on which it has decided for a period of three months from the date of communication to the Council of the European Union,

- the Council of the European Union, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within the time limit referred to in the first indent.

Article 13

1. Directive 78/546/EEC, as amended by Directive 89/462/EEC, is hereby repealed with effect from 1 January 1998.

2. The Member States shall provide the results for 1997 still not transmitted on 1 January 1998 in accordance with Directive 78/546/EEC, as amended by Directive 89/462/EEC.

Article 14

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ L 168, 26. 6. 1978, p. 29.

(2) OJ L 226, 3. 8. 1989, p. 8.

(3) OJ L 219, 28. 8. 1993, p. 1.

(4) OJ L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47.

(5) OJ L 151, 15. 6. 1990, p. 1.

ANNEX A

LIST OF VARIABLES

The full results to be supplied break down into:

A1. vehicle-related data;

A2. journey-related data;

A3. goods-related data (in the basic transport operation).

A1. VEHICLE-RELATED VARIABLES

A goods road motor vehicle may be either a single goods road motor vehicle (lorry) or a coupled combination of goods road motor vehicles (lorry with trailer, road tractor with semi-trailer).

The vehicle-related data to be provided are the following:

- axle configuration according to Annex B,

- age of the road motor vehicle (lorry or road tractor) in years (from its first registration),

- maximum permissible laden weight, in 100 kg,

- load capacity, in 100 kg,

- type of operation (hire or reward/own account)

- total vehicle kilometres during the survey period:

- loaded

- empty (including road tractor journeys without semi-trailer),

- if the collection of data is carried out from a sample, vehicle weighting is to be used to get full results from individual data.

Successive configurations

When the road motor vehicle covered by the survey is a lorry used alone, i.e. without trailer, throughout the survey period, it constitutes in itself the road motor vehicle for transporting goods.

However, when the road motor vehicle covered by the survey is a tractor, in which case it will have a semi-trailer coupled, or it is a lorry to which a trailer is coupled, the data required within the meaning of the Regulation concern the road motor vehicle for the transportation of goods in its entirety, a road train or a coupled combination of road vehicles. In this case, there may be a change of configuration during the survey week, with a lorry acquiring a trailer or changing trailer during the period, or a tractor changing its semi-trailer. In such a case these successive configurations must be recorded, and the data on the vehicle must be supplied for each journey. However, if it is not possible to record these successive configurations, it is agreed that for the vehicle-related variables those corresponding to the configuration at the beginning of the first laden journey made during the survey period will be recorded.

Change in type of operation

In the same way, depending on the journey, the transportation may be effected on own account or on the account of a third party, and the type of operation must be recorded for each journey. However, if it is not possible to record these changes, it is agreed that the 'type of operation` recorded will be that corresponding to the main mode of utilization.

Definitions of terms relating to the vehicle appearing in the text of the Directive

- Road motor vehicle:

road vehicle fitted with an engine whence it derives its sole means of propulsion, which is normally used for carrying persons or goods or for drawing, on the road, vehicles used for the carriage of persons or goods,

- goods road vehicle:

roads vehicle designed exclusively or primarily to carry goods (lorry trailer, semi-trailer),

- goods road motor vehicle:

single goods road motor vehicle, road train, or other coupled combinations of goods road vehicles designed to carry goods, such as a lorry with or without trailer, or a road tractor with semi-trailer,

- lorry:

rigid road vehicle designed exclusively or primarily to carry goods,

- road tractor:

road motor vehicle designed exclusively or primarily to haul other road vehicles which are not power-driven (mainly semi-trailers),

- trailer:

goods road vehicle designed to be hauled by a road motor vehicle,

- semi-trailer:

goods road vehicle with no front axle so designed that part of the vehicle and a substantial part of its loaded weight rests on the road tractor,

- Articulated vehicle:

road tractor coupled to a semi-trailer,

- road train:

goods road motor vehicle coupled to a trailer. This category also includes an articulated vehicle with a further trailer attached,

- registered:

the state of having been entered in a register of goods road vehicles, kept by an official body, whether or not the registrations is completed with the issue of a registration plate,

- load capacity:

maximum weight of goods declared permissible by the competent authority of the country of registration of the vehicle.

When the goods motor vehicle is a train made up of a lorry with trailer, the load capacity of the train is the sum of the load capacities of the lorry and the trailer,

- maximum permissible laden weight:

total weight of the vehicle (or vehicle combination) when stationary and ready for the road and of the weight of the load declared permissible by the competent authority of the country of registration.

A2. JOURNEY-RELATED VARIABLES

During the survey period, the goods road motor vehicle makes journeys, either unloaded (there are no goods or empty packaging in the lorry, the trailer or the semi-trailer, which are therefore 'completely empty`) or loaded (there are either goods, or empty packaging in the lorry, the trailer or the semi-trailer, empty packaging being a particular type of goods.) The loaded distance of the goods road motor vehicle is the distance between the first place of loading and the last place of unloading (where the goods road motor vehicle is completely emptied). A laden journey can therefore cover several basic transport operations.

The data to be provided for each journey are as follows:

- type of journey in accordance with the nomenclature in Annex C,

- weight of goods loaded, gross weight in 100 kg,

- place of loading (of the goods road motor vehicle, for a laden journey):

- definition: the place taken into account for loading is the first place in which goods are loaded on the goods road motor vehicle, which was previously completely empty (or where the road tractor is coupled to a semi-trailer). For an unladen journey, it is the place of unloading of the preceding laden journey (notion of place where unladen journey begins).

- coding: the place of loading is coded according to NUTS Level III within the EEA, and in accordance with the geonomenclature for outside the EEA,

- place of unloading (of the goods road motor vehicle, for a laden journey):

- definition: the place taken into account for unloading is the last place in which goods are unloaded from the goods road motor vehicle, which is subsequently completely empty (or where the road tractor is uncoupled from a semi-trailer). For a unladen journey, it is the place of loading of the subsequent laden journey (notion of place where unladen journey ends),

- coding: the place of unloading is coded according to NUTS Level III within the EEA, and in accordance with the geonomenclature for outside the EEA,

- distance travelled: actual distance excluding the distance covered by the goods road motor vehicle while being transported by another means of transport,

- tonnes x km effected during the journey,

- countries crossed in transit (not more than five), coded according to the geonomenclature,

- place of loading, if any, of the goods road motor vehicle on another means of transport according to NUTS Level III within the EEA, and in accordance with the geonomenclature for outside the EEA,

- place of unloading, if any, of the goods road motor vehicle from another means of transport according to NUTS Level III within the EEA, and in accordance with the geonomenclature for outside the EEA,

- situation 'fully loaded` (procedure 2) or 'not fully loaded` (procedure 1) of the goods road motor vehicle during the journey in question, in terms of maximum volume of space used during the journey (procedure 0 = by convention for unladen journeys).

A3. GOODS-RELATED VARIABLES (IN THE BASIC TRANSPORT OPERATION)

During a laden journey, several basic transport operations can be carried out, a basic transport operation being defined as the transport of one type of goods (defined by reference to a particular nomenclature level) between its place of loading and its place of unloading.

The data to be provided relating to a basic transport operation during a laden journey are as follows:

- type of goods, according to the groups referring to an appropriate classification (see Annex D) including the groups 'packaging only` and 'completely empty`,

- weight of goods: gross weight in 100 kg,

- if need be, hazardousness of goods according to the main categories of the European Agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road Convention given in Annex E

- appearance of goods according to the first digit of United National Recommendation No 21 given in Annex F,

- place of loading of the goods, coded according to NUTS Level III within the EEA, and in accordance with the geonomenclature for outside the EEA,

- place of unloading of the goods, coded according to NUTS Level III within the EEA, and in accordance with the geonomenclature for outside the EEA,

- distance travelled, actual distance excluding the distance covered with the goods road motor vehicle while being transported by another means of transport.

TRANSPORT OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT DURING A 'COLLECTION OR DISTRIBUTION ROUND` TYPE OF JOURNEY

(type 3 in type of journey)

For this type of journey, with several loading and/or unloading points, it is practically impossible to ask the transport operators to describe the basic transport operations.

For these journeys, when identified as such, a single, notional, basic transport operation, is generally generated on the basis of the information on the journey.

Each member State shall inform the Commission of its definition of this type of journey and explain the simplifying assumptions it is obliged to apply when collecting data on the corresponding transport operations.

Methodological appendix Laden journeys and basic transport operations

Depending on the Member State concerned, information on transport is collected on the basis of:

- either a description of the goods carried in each basic transport operation (with additional details on unladen journeys),

- or a description of the journeys made by the vehicle in carrying out these basic goods transport operations.

In the great majority of cases, when a laden journey is made this represents one basic transport operation only with:

- a single type of goods loaded (by reference to the classification of goods in use, in this case the 24 groups derived from the NST/R classification),

- a single point of loading for the goods,

- a single point of unloading for the goods.

In this case the two methods used are completely equivalent, and the information collected by either method describes both:

- the transportation of the goods (all the basic goods transport operations),

- the journey made by the vehicles carrying out these operations, with details of vehicle capacities and utilization of these capacities (laden journey with utilization coefficient; unladen journey).

Within the meaning of the present Regulation, the transportation of goods and the journeys made by the vehicles must both be described. However, it is undesirable to impose on the transport operators an excessive increase in the burden of statistics by asking them to describe in detail the transportation of goods and the vehicle journeys.

Accordingly, the NSIs in the Member States, when coding the questionnaires, must reconstitute the data which are not explicitly required from the transport operators from the data which they collect on the basis of either the 'basic transport operation` or the 'vehicle journey`.

The problem will arise when several basic transport operations are carried out in the course of one laden journey, which may be because:

- there are several points of loading and/or unloading of the goods (but limited in number, otherwise these would be pick-up or distribution rounds, which require special treatment).

In this case these various loading and/or unloading points are recorded, in order to calculate directly the tonne/kms effected during the journey, and the Statistical Office can reconstitute the basic transport operations,

- and/or the fact that there are several different types of goods transported during the laden journey, a fact which in general is not recorded in the statistics, since only the type of goods (single or main) is requested.

In this case the loss information is accepted and Member States carrying out this type of simplification will make explicit mention of it to the Commission.

ANNEX B

CLASSIFICATION OF AXLE CONFIGURATIONS

The axle configuration counts all the axles of the vehicle/vehicle combination used, i.e. the axles of the tractor as well as of the trailer or semi-trailer.

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ANNEX C

CLASSIFICATION OF TYPES OF JOURNEY

1. Laden journey involving one single basic transport operation

2. Laden journey involving several transport operations, but not considered as a collection or distribution round

3. Laden journey of the collection or distribution round type

4. Unladen journeys

ANNEX D

CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS

The classification of goods shall be according to the NST/R until such time as its substitution is laid down by the Commission, in consultation with the Member States. The classification shall also include the group 'packaging only`.

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ANNEX E

CLASSIFICATION OF CATEGORIES OF HAZARDOUS GOODS (1*)

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(1*) Each category is either a class or a division of a class of the classification of types of hazardous goods defined by the European Agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road (ADR) - United Nations, Economic Commission for Europe.

ANNEX F

CLASSIFICATION OF CARGO TYPES (1*)

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(1*) United Nations, Economic Commission for Europe - Codes for types of cargo, packages and packaging materials, Recommendation 21 adopted by the Working Party on Facilitation of International Trade Procedures, Geneva, March 1986.