No C 310/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 11. 81 
Opinion on the 
— proposal for a Council Directive on certain measures to promote the development of 
combined transport, and the 
— proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 1107/ 70 with a view to 
supplementing the system for the granting of aids for transport by rail, road and inland 
waterway by the addition of provisions on combined transport 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official journal of the European 
Communities No C 351 of 31 December 1980, page 40. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 14 January 1981 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic and 
Social Committee in accordance with Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 
190th plenary session held in Brussels on 23 and 24 September 1981. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 75 
thereof, 
Having regard to the letter from the Council dated 14 
January 1981 asking for an opinion on the proposal for a 
Council Directive on certain measures to promote the 
development of combined transport, and the proposal 
for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) 
No 1107/70 with a view to supplementing the system for 
the granting of aids for transport by rail, road and inland 
waterway by the addition of provisions on combined 
transport ('), 
Having regard to Regulation (EEC) No 1107/70 of the 
Council of 4 June 1970 on the granting of aids for 
transport by rail, road and inland waterway (2), and in 
particular Article 3 thereof, 
Having regard to Council Directive No 75/130/EEC of 
17 February 1975 on the establishment of common rules 
for certain types of combined road/rail carriage of goods 
between Member States (3), amended by Council 
Directive 79/5/EEC of 19 December 1978 (4), 
(>) OJ No C 351, 31. 12. 1980, pp. 37 and 40. 
(2) OJ No L 130, 15. 6. 1970, p. 1. 
(3) OJ No L 48, 22. 2. 1975, p. 31. 
(") OJ No L 5, 9. 1. 1979, p. 33. Having regard to the Committee's earlier opinions on 
these subjects, 
Having regard to the decision taken by its Chairman on 
10 February 1981, instructing the Section for Transport 
and Communications to draw up an opinion on the 
matter, 
Having regard to the section opinion adopted at the 
section's 139th meeting held on 9 September 1981, 
Having regard to the report presented by the Rapporteur, 
Mr Renaud, 
Having regard to its discussions at its 190th plenary 
session, held on 23 and 24 September 1981 (meeting of 
23 September 1981), 
Whereas a number of Community incentives already 
apply to combined road/rail transport under the 
terms of Council Directives No 75/130/EEC and 
No 79/5/EEC referred to above; 
Whereas these Directives abolish' all quotas and 
authorization arrangements for the carriage of goods by 
road between Member States where the lorry, trailer, 
semi-trailer (with or without tractor unit), swap body and 
container of 20 feet or more are transported by rail 
between the nearest suitable rail loading station to the 
point of loading and the nearest suitable rail unloading 
station to the point of unloading (combined road/rail 
transport); 
30. 11. 81 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 310/19 
Whereas the various forms of combined transport are 
important for the economy in general and the transport 
sector in particular (energy, protection of the 
environment, saturation of the road network, improved 
road safety, reduction in transshipment costs); 
Whereas the volume of this traffic should therefore be 
increased to enable the desired effects to be achieved; 
Whereas it is important to attract new, additional 
traffic, 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
unanimously, with 1 abstention: 
1. PROPOSAL FOR A DIRECTIVE 
1.1. General comments 
1.1.1. The proposed measures for easing the 
regulations are mainly concerned with field of 
application, taxation, access to the market and rate 
formation. The Commission feels that, if the aims nre to be 
achieved, the Community Direuive will have to cover 
national transport, and all market organization rules 
applying to road journeys preceding or following the rail 
segment in combined road/rail transport will have to be 
abolished. 
The Committee would make the following comments: 
1.1.2. Hitherto, the development of combined 
road/rail transport has been based on cooperation 
between road haulage companies and the railway 
networks, which in a number of Member States have set 
up road/rail companies or container companies. These 
companies operate fixed installations and rolling stock. 
The railways have set special tariffs and these companies 
deal with the carriers, whose customers are not involved 
in these transactions. These tariff practices and rules 
mean that combined transport has a neutral effect on the 
transport market. 
Extending the field of application to national combined 
transport would enable the Community to intervene in 
national arrangements as regards capacity and especially 
the tariffs applying to combined transport. This would split the road transport market by separating 
road/rail activities from road haulage in general. In the 
Section's view, this apparent liberalization would, in fact, 
weaken those companies which concentrate on combined 
transport techniques and would steer the rest of the 
industry away from this area. 
The Commission no doubt intends to offset the effect of 
this policy bv developing various kinds of aid under 
Regulation (EEC) No 1107/70. 
The Commission seems, however, to be advocating 
greater interventionism in a sector which it is trying to 
develop in a liberal climate. 
1.1.3. As regards access to the market, the proposal's 
basic aim is to ease the criteria for own-account transport 
operations set out in paragraph 11 of Annex I to the first 
Directive of 23 July 1962 on certain common rules for 
road transport between Member States ('). 
The Commission proposes in particular the abolition of a 
number of conditions relating to the ownership of the 
road vehicle where it is used for combined transport. This 
measure is intended to attract own-account traffic to 
combined transport and to reduce prices by dismantling 
the market organization rules. 
The Committee feels that the Commission is going the 
wrong way about promoting combined transport. 
Indeed, statistics on road haulage in France (where 
combined transport has been developing for several 
decades) show that, while the total tonnage handled by 
own-account transport operators is twice that carried for 
hire or reward, the figures for long-distance transport 
(over 500 km), by the most suitable vehicles for this 
work, indicate that the ratio - in tonnes or tonne/km -
of own-account transport to transport for hire or reward 
is 1:4. 
Thus the bulk of long-distance road transport is now 
carried out by professional hauliers. The increase in 
combined transport sought by the Commission could 
only be achieved by transferring goods from the railways. 
This would therefore ultimately mean redirecting 
financial assistance from rail transport to combined 
transport. 
1.1.4. Combined transport could, however, be 
promoted by improving current legislation embodied in 
H OJ No 70, 6. 8. 1962, p. 2005/62. 
No C 310/20 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 11. 81 
the Community Directives of 1975 and 1978. A number 
of combined transport operations are in fact excluded 
from the liberalized Community system because of the 
poor rail services on certain links. Changes in the 
restrictive definitions of rail loading and unloading 
stations contained in Article 2 could help to improve the 
provisions in force and facilitate access to the 
intra-Community combined transport market. 
1.1.5. The Committee approves the Commission 
proposal as regards combined road/inland waterway 
transport. It would, however, ask the Commission to 
examine, as a matter of urgency, the possibility of 
extending the present field of application (containers of 
20 feet or more). Road vehicles and swap or demountable 
bodies can also be transported by inland waterway on 
specially designed units. 
1.2. Specific comments 
1.2.1. The Committee would suggest that the term 
'traffic combine' in the French title of the proposal for a 
Directive be replaced by 'transport combine', particularly 
since two Council Directives (75/130 and 79/5) already 
deal with 'transports combines'. The latter term would 
moreover correspond to the German and English terms 
used in the Commission proposal. 
1.2.2. Article 1 - Scope 
In the light of the general comments on the rules for the 
organization of the road haulage market in the Member 
States, the Committee would request that a careful study 
be made in advance (but within a reasonably limited 
period) of the practical effects of the provision making the 
Directive applicable to combined transport within a 
Member State. 
1.2.3. Article 2 - Definitions 
The Committee would suggest that the phrases 'nearest 
suitable rail loading station' and 'nearest suitable rail 
unloading station' be amended to read 'most suitable rail 
loading station' and 'most suitable rail unloading station'. 
Strict interpretation of the present definition would 
require stations to be selected according to their 
geographical proximity to the point of departure or 
destination even where rail transport conditions were 
unfavourable for part of the journey. This could entail 
considerable delays and in turn discourage the use of 
combined transport on these routes. Similarly, the Committee would propose that the term 
'nearest suitable port' be replaced by 'most suitable 
port'. 
Neither a swap body nor a container can be hauled by 
road, since they do not have wheels. 'Road haulage' 
should therefore be defined as follows: 'haulage by road 
of a trailer or semi-trailer on the feeder or final delivery 
section of a combined transport operation'. 
1.2.4. Article 4 
The Committee would suggest that the second indent of 
(1) be replaced by the following text: 
'As far as drawn vehicles are concerned (trailers or 
semi-trailers), carriage by road on own account may 
in the final delivery stage or, on the return journey, in 
the feeder stage, be performed without affecting the 
legal distinction between transport on own account 
and transport for hire or reward'. 
1.2.5. Article 8 
The Committee approves the proposed technical 
harmonization measures, but as regards promotional 
measures would refer to its comments on the Proposal for 
a Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 1107/70 
on the granting of aids. 
1.2.6. Article 10 
The Economic and Social Committee, as consultative 
body provided for by the Treaties, has basic reservations 
concerning the creation of specialized consultative 
committees. It accordingly feels that if cooperation 
between the Commission and the sectors listed in 
paragraph 2 of Article 10 is envisaged, the trade unions 
should also be involved. 
2. Draft Regulation 
The draft Regulation is designed to increase the scope for 
national aids for investment in fixed installations, 
handling equipment and means of transport used in 
combined transport. 
The Committee considers that financial aid for 
investment is necessary in order to improve fixed 
30. 11. 81 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 310/21 
installations and transshipment equipment. It is, however, 
opposed to government aid tor the purchase of transport 
equipment. 
It thinks that such aid could distort free competition between carriers, which would be at variance with the 
objectives of the common transport policy. 
The Committee accordingly approves the proposal for a 
Regulation, provided that the third indent of Article 1 is 
deleted. 
Done at Brussels, 23 September 1981. 
The Chairman 
of the 
Economic and Social Committee 
Tomas ROSEINGRAVE