Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) concerning the granting of Community financial assistance for actions to promote combined goods transport (96/C 343/03) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(96) 335 final - 96/0207(SYN)

(Submitted by the Commission on 9 October 1996)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 75 (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

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

Acting in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 189c of the Treaty, in cooperation with the European Parliament,

Whereas the present situation and the expected development of transport in the Community make it necessary to manage the Community's transport resources to optimum effect while respecting the need to protect the environment; whereas this implies encouraging the use of combined transport, as stated by the Council in its resolution of 30 October 1990 on the setting up of a European combined transport network;

Whereas the establishment of a combined transport network should be supplemented by Community measures concerning the organization of combined transport chains;

Whereas, following the abovementioned Council Resolution of 30 October 1990, the Commission, by Decision 93/45/EEC (1), launched an experimental five-year scheme for the granting of financial assistance for pilot schemes to promote combined transport; whereas this scheme comes to an end on 31 December 1996;

Whereas, therefore, Community action in this area is clearly useful; whereas this experimental scheme should be converted into a proper framework for actions of Community interest in the field of combined goods transport which takes account of the experience gained since 1992;

Whereas the purpose of these actions is to foster the advantages to society of combined transport in terms of reducing congestion, improving safety and in particular respecting the environment, and also in contributing towards the sustainable regional development of Europe;

Whereas the ultimate aim of these actions is to help develop an effective European transport system by supporting the introduction of alternatives to long-distance road transport which are acceptable to the market; whereas therefore the actions supported by this Regulation should not have the effect of restoring road routes;

Whereas these actions relate to Community combined transport, including transport outside Community territory; whereas it is therefore necessary to be able to take into account routes which include some non-Community territory, provided that traffic volumes confirm demonstrable Community interest;

Whereas, in accordance with the principle of the free choice of transport mode, these actions include financial assistance for investment in combined transport equipment, for access to rail and inland waterway infrastructure, for the commercial operation of techniques, technologies or equipment previously tested and approved, and for schemes relating to logistics, staff training and advertising of the actions, with the exception of transport infrastructure construction or development projects or technological research projects - in the form either of feasibility studies, or of a financial contribution to innovative schemes aimed at improving the competitiveness of combined transport;

Whereas, however, the basis for the financial assistance covered by this Regulation is different from that referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 of 18 September 1995 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks (1) and that referred to in Council Decision 94/914/EC of 15 December 1994 adopting a specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration in the field of transport (1994 to 1998) (2); whereas it is therefore possible to authorize funding for different measures on the same pilot route, since this can generate useful synergies; whereas therefore this Community assistance can provide additional assistance for Community research activities and for completion of the trans-European networks;

Whereas for the same reason, considering the European interest of the projects selected and the fact that they are continually monitored by the Commission, the Member States may grant financial assistance for the measures included in an action, provided that they comply with Articles 77, 92 and 93 of the Treaty and the pertinent legislation;

Whereas the financial assistance should be provided for a limited period and act as a special incentive to encourage operators to develop services of this kind;

Whereas the application of this Regulation should be monitored on a regular basis; whereas to this end the Commission should, two years after its entry into force, report on this progress to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions;

Whereas the purpose of the actions covered by this Regulation is to help start up combined transport projects; whereas such actions should therefore be of limited duration,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Purpose

This Regulation specifies the conditions, rules and procedures for granting Community financial assistance to projects, which contribute to the increased use of combined goods transport through:

(a) increasing the competitiveness of combined transport, both in terms of price and of service quality, as against road transport; or

(b) promoting the use of advanced technology in combined transport; or

(c) improving access to combined transport for undertakings, regardless of their size.

Article 2

Definitions

1. For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) intermodal transport equipment means a container, a platform, a swap body or a road vehicle; however, the term does not cover a maritime or inland waterway vessel;

(b) combined transport means any transport of goods between Member States using intermodal transport equipment, without unloading the goods from such equipment during the entire journey, using at least two different modes of transport which may be road, rail, inland waterway or sea, and keeping the road sections as short as possible;

(c) operator means any undertaking operating combined goods transport services using its own or leased equipment for all or part of the service; but using a different undertaking for the rail, maritime or inland water haulage.

2. Within the territory of the Community combined transport actions shall as a matter of priority relate to international combined transport corridors specified in the European Parliament and Council Decision No 1692/96/EC (3). A corridor on which one or more of the combined transport actions referred to in this Regulation are to take place is called a 'pilot route`.

These actions may also cover combined transport routes outside Community territory where this is justified by a large volume of traffic going to, or coming from, the Community.

Article 3

Eligible actions

1. Community financial assistance may be granted for combined transport actions on existing pilot routes or on pilot routes still to be established, the purpose of which is to try out measures to achieve the objectives listed in Article 1.

2. Any application for an action shall first be approved by the Member States on whose territory the combined transport route covered by the action is situated.

3. As from 27 June 1997, Community financial assistance shall not be granted for measures to cover the costs of access to rail infrastructure or the costs of rail haulage if the railway undertaking does not hold a licence within the meaning of Article 2 of Council Directive 95/18/EC (1).

4. Community financial assistance for the innovative measures described in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 4 (2) shall not be granted to 'infrastructure managers` as defined in Article 3 of Directive 91/440/EEC (2), nor to the 'railway undertakings` defined therein, with the exception of those railway undertakings envisaged in Article 10 (2) thereof.

Article 4

Extent of financial assistance

1. Community financial assistance may be provided for:

(a) feasibility studies on a specific pilot route;

(b) innovative measures, namely specific investments and certain variable operating costs with the exception of measures concerning staff costs, energy consumption and the covering of financial losses.

2. Community financial assistance shall be limited to 50 % for feasibility studies and 30 % for innovative measures. These should primarily consist of:

(a) investment in intermodal transport equipment, provided that the beneficiary or beneficiaries undertake to keep the equipment on the route concerned for a minimum of five years;

(b) investment in transshipment equipment for any mode;

(c) participation in the costs of access to rail and inland waterway infrastructure;

(d) the commercial operation of techniques, technologies or equipment previously tested and approved, in particular under European research programmes, including the telematics programme;

(e) measures relating to logistics, staff training and advertising of the actions covered by this Regulation.

3. Member States may grant the beneficiaries of Community financial assistance funding for the same actions, provided that they comply with Articles 77, 92 and 93 of the Treaty and with Community legislation on State aid and public procurement.

Article 5

Submission of projects

1. Projects for combined transport actions may be submitted to the Commission by a Member State, or by a private or public undertaking established inside or outside the Community. Projects may be submitted jointly by a number of States or undertakings.

2. The submission shall describe the project, taking into account the following elements:

(a) type of project:

- innovative project,

- feasibility study (including objective, methods and cost of the study);

(b) description of project:

- modes and operators involved,

- reason for envisaged project (customer requests, congestion, market potential, remoteness of area, etc.),

- innovative features in comparison with current situation,

- intensity and type of cooperation,

- duration of project,

- need for assistance (other assistance granted or envisaged, financial resources of applicants, etc.),

- amount of assistance requested, in ecus;

(c) route/axis of project:

- importance of route for the Community economy (volume carried by different modes, further potential),

- importance of route in terms of the Community transport policy (inclusion of pilot route in the Community's trans-European combined transport network, importance of pilot route having regard to major multimodal transport corridors in third states),

- market conditions, including existing services or technologies, also considering other modes;

(d) the type of Community assistance requested, in accordance with Article 4 (2).

3. In their submission, the applicants shall define their project objectives as well as the means to achieve the objectives. The submission shall contain all elements necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its selection task according to Article 6 (1) to (4).

4. So that it can be evaluated, every application for a combined transport action shall, in addition to the items listed in paragraphs 2 and 3, include:

(a) a letter of intent from the applicants of the project including an undertaking by the applicants to implement the project if the financial assistance applied for is granted;

(b) financial statement itemizing all the costs in ecus and all the other proposed funding for the project;

(c) the annex listing the partners in the project and describing their legal status and financial capacity.

5. As soon as the Commission receives an application, it shall check that it is eligible under Articles 2, 3 and 4.

Article 6

Selection of projects - Granting of financial assistance

1. Decisions on the granting of financial assistance under this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 7. They shall be based on a selection process determining whether the project contributes to an increased use of combined transport.

2. The Commission shall assess whether the project is likely to meet its objectives as mentioned in Article 5 (3) and whether it meets the general and specific objectives set out in Article 1. To this end, the Commission shall give priority to the criteria mentioned in paragraphs (3) and (4) of this Article.

3. In assessing whether the project is likely to meet its objectives, the following indicators shall be given priority and shall be measured against the applicants' own estimates:

(a) customer potential for combined transport;

(b) price and service performance (accessibility, reliability, time gains) in comparison with competing road or other services (at time of submission and after implementation of the project);

(c) envisaged receipts;

(d) cost factors (especially elements for evaluating the marginal cost of access to the infrastructure, particularly rail, for the service covered by the pilot action and any further information enabling a judgment to be made as to whether aid towards the costs of infrastructure access is justified);

(e) timetable for viability.

4. In assessing whether the project is likely to meet Community transport policy goals, the following indicators shall be given priority:

(a) traffic shift forecast (as percentage of total traffic on route or axis);

(b) effects on other transport services in the relevant market and possible new entrants;

(c) relevance of project results for other ventures, routes or market participants;

(d) benefits to environment and safety when compared with existing services.

5. The Commission shall also ensure that the submission complies with the further conditions laid down in this Regulation, namely:

(a) the consent of States on whose territory the action is carried out;

(b) the exclusion of infrastructure measures;

(c) the exclusion of research measures;

(d) a guarantee that, as from 27 June 1997, the railway undertakings taking part in the project hold a licence within the meaning of Article 2 of Directive 95/18/EC.

6. The evaluation and monitoring procedures referred to in Article 10 shall be determined by the decisions provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article.

7. These decisions are addressed to the beneficiaries and the Member States in whose territory the combined transport routes are situated.

Article 7

Committee

The Commission shall be assisted by the committee set up in accordance with Article 17 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2236/95, meeting in the composition corresponding to the transport sector.

The Commission representative 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 impose according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required 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 to the Council forthwith.

The Commission may defer application of the measures which it has decided for a period of not more than one month from the date of such communication.

The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within the time-limit referred to in the previous paragraph.

Article 8

Financial provisions

1. Financial assistance may be granted for expenditure on the implementation of actions carried out by the beneficiaries or by third parties who have been made responsible for implementation.

2. Financial assistance shall not cover expenditure incurred before the date on which the Commission received the application.

3. Commitments and payments shall be expressed and paid in ecus.

4. As a general rule, payments shall be made in the form of advances and a final payment. The first advance shall be paid once the application for financial assistance has been approved. Subsequent payments shall be made on the basis of requests for payment and taking into account progress with the project.

5. The Commission shall make the final payment after approval of an activity report on the study or other measure submitted by the beneficiary and itemizing all the expenditure actually incurred.

Article 9

Financial control

1. Without prejudice to inspections carried out by Member States in accordance with national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, to the provisions of Article 188a of the Treaty, and to inspections carried out under point (c) of Article 209 of the Treaty, Commission officials or other staff may visit the sites of supported actions to carry out spot checks.

2. If work on an action does not seem to justify some or all of the financial assistance granted, the Commission shall conduct appropriate investigations.

3. Following the investigations referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission may reduce, suspend or withdraw financial assistance for the action if the investigation confirms that there is some irregularity or that the conditions set out in the decision granting the financial assistance have not been met, particularly if there is an important change which affects the nature or conditions of implementation of the action and for which the Commission's approval has not been requested.

Article 10

Monitoring and evaluation

1. The Commission shall monitor implementation of projects during and after their completion. For these purposes it should also rely, whenever necessary, on external expertise. The time-frame for monitoring after completion of the project shall be determined by the Commission in the decision mentioned in Article 6 with regard to the specific circumstances of the project. On completion of a project, and before final payment, the Commission shall carry out an evaluation of it.

2. Up to one per cent of the budget provided for in this Regulation shall be set aside for independent monitoring and evaluation.

Article 11

Report

Two years after the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall submit a report on the activities carried out under it to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The Commission shall take as much account as possible of the comments made by the other institutions on the report.

The application of this Regulation shall be evaluated in line with Commission evaluation principles. The result of this evaluation shall be available before 1 October 2001.

Article 12

Publicity

The beneficiaries shall ensure that proper publicity is given to the assistance granted under this Regulation to make the public aware of the role played by the Community in implementing these projects. They shall consult the Commission on how this is to be done.

Article 13

Duration

The granting of financial assistance for combined transport under this Regulation shall be authorized from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001. By 31 December 2001 at the latest, the Council, acting on a Commission proposal in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty, shall decide as to the continuation of that financial assistance after that date.

Article 14

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of 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 No L 16, 25. 1. 1993, p. 55.

(1) OJ No L 228, 23. 9. 1995, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 361, 31. 12. 1994, p. 56.

(3) OJ No L 228, 9. 9. 1996, p. 1.

(1) OJ No L 143, 27. 6. 1995, p. 70.

(2) OJ No L 237, 24. 8. 1991, p. 25.