No C 87/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 5. 4. 90 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the introduction of the final regime for the organ­
ization of the market for the carriage of goods by road 
COM(90) 64 final 
(Submitted by the Commission on 19 February 1990) 
(90/C 87/04) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 75 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas pursuant to Article 3 (3) of Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 3164/76 (l) as amended by Regulation (EEC) 
No 1841/88 (2), the Council is required to take a 
decision on what measures to apply in the event of a 
crisis in the road haulage sector; 
Whereas it is therefore essential to introduce a 
Community safeguard mechanism to deal with, and 
resolve, any crisis in the market; 
Whereas provision should accordingly be made for 
taking action to resolve a crisis, and whereas an appro­
priate decision-making procedure should be set up, the 
type of measures that may be applied in the event of a 
crisis should be specified and steps should be taken to 
ensure that the statistics needed for the application of the 
safeguard clauses are available; 
Whereas it should be specified that the provisions of this 
Regulation are applicable without prejudice to the EEC 
Treaty rules governing competition, and to Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 4059/89 (3), 
0) OJ No L 357, 29. 12. 1976, p. 1. 
O OJ No L 163, 30. 6. 1988, p. 1. 
O OJ No L 390, 30. 12. 1989, p. 3. HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
This Regulation shall apply to all road haulage oper­
ations on Community territory whether carried out: 
— within a Member State, 
— between Member States. 
Article 2 
1. For the purposes of this Regulation, a crisis shall be 
taken to mean the existence in the hire-or-reward road 
haulage market of a serious and potentially enduring 
imbalance between supply and demand causing: 
— a clear excess of supply of transport capacity over 
demand, and 
— failure to cover the average costs of a properly 
managed undertaking, so that the financial stability 
and survival of a significant number of undertakings 
is compromised, provided that the short-term and 
medium-term forecasts for the market in question do 
not indicate any substantial and lasting 
improvements. 
2. The crisis may affect the whole of the road haulage 
market referred to in paragraph 1 or one of its 
component sectors where the transport activity in 
question mainly affects a specific geographical area in 
one or more Member States, or a specific product, type 
of activity, traffic link or vehicle category, if a substantial 
proportion of the Community market is involved. 
5. 4. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 87/5 
Article 3 
Without prejudice to the provisions implementing 
Council Directive 78/546/EEC (l) and in order to be 
able to monitor the market and detect a crisis, the 
Commission shall collect data on the following aspects of 
road transport: 
— average costs and rates for the various types of 
transport, 
— number and structure of undertakings, 
— demand in the sector, 
— employment trends in the sector, 
— number, capacity and rate of utilization of vehicles, 
— investment made by undertakings and their future 
investment plans, 
— vehicle sales volumes. 
The Commission shall establish quarterly indicators on 
the basis of these data. Member States shall assist the 
Commission in this task as required. 
Article 4 
1. Where necessary, either at the request of a Member 
State or on its own initiative, and acting in accordance 
with the procedure set out in Article 8, the Commission 
shall adopt whatever measures are necessary to resolve 
the crisis. The measures shall cover the road haulage 
market as a whole or one of the sectors referred to in 
Article 2 (2). 
2. Where a Member State makes a formal approach, 
the Commission shall take a decision within 30 days of 
receiving the request which must be duly substantiated 
by the information referred to in Article 6 and any other 
information the Member State considers relevant. 
The measures introduced under paragraph 1 shall not 
remain in force for more than 12 months. They may be 
extended once by the same decision-making procedure. 
3. The Commission shall immediately notify the 
Member States of the decision and communicate it to the 
Council. A Member State may refer the Commission's decision to 
the Council within 30 days of its notification. The 
Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a 
different decision within 30 days following referral by 
the Member State. 
Article 5 
Without prejudice to the measures provided for in 
Article 2 (5) of Regulation (EEC) No 4059/89, the 
Commission shall take whatever steps are necessary to 
resolve the crisis, provided that the implementation of 
such measures does not jeopardize the ending of quotas 
from 1 January 1993. The aims of such measures shall 
be, in particular, to: 
— temporarily limit the supply of transport capacity to 
the market in question, 
— encourage undertakings to convert to other activities 
or their employees to redeploy out of the market in 
question, provided that these measures do not cause 
an imbalance in another sector of the market referred 
to in Article 2 (2); 
The Commission may make such measures subject to the 
restructuring of the undertakings concerned. 
Article 6 
When a Member State requests the Commission to find 
that a crisis within the meaning of Article 4 exists, it shall 
provide quantified substantive information enabling the 
Commission to assess the situation, particularly the 
current and expected short- and medium-term values for 
the variables listed in Article 3. 
Article 7 
The Commission shall be assisted by an Advisory 
Committee composed of representatives of the Member 
States and chaired by a representative of the 
Commission. 
The Committee: 
— shall monitor the situation in the transport markets 
referred to in Article 1 and advise the Commission on 
the subject, 
— shall, at the Commission's request, advise the 
Commission on any changes in the system of stat­
istics described in Article 3 that may be required to 
ensure the speedier and better detection of any 
imbalance in these markets, 
— within the framework laid down by this Regulation, 
may be consulted by the Commission on any matter 
relating to the implementation of the Regulation. 
(') OJ No L 168, 26. 6. 1978, p. 29. The Committee shall draw up its rules of procedure. 
No C 87/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 5. 4. 90 
Article 8 
Where the procedure defined in this Article is used, the 
representative of the Commission shall submit to the 
Committee 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, if necessary by taking a 
vote. 
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in 
addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask 
to have its position recorded in the minutes. 
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the 
opinion delivered by the Committee. It shall inform the 
Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been 
taken into account. Article 9 
Member States shall take whatever steps are necessary to 
implement this Regulation and shall inform the 
Commission thereof. 
Article 10 
By 31 December 1995 at the latest, the Council shall 
examine, on the basis of a Commission proposal if, and 
where appropriate subject to what conditions, this Regu­
lation should remain in force. 
Article 11 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1991. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.