Amended proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on a transparent system of harmonised rules for restrictions on heavy goods vehicles involved in international transport on designated roads ...

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) the EC Treaty)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

On 25 May 1998 the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for a Directive on a transparent system of harmonised rules for restrictions on heavy goods vehicles involved in international transport on designated roads (COM(1998)115 final - SYN 98/0096). [1]

[1] OJ No. C198, 24.6.1998, p.17

This proposal whilst supported by the majority of Member States has proven to be very controversial with a large minority of Member States. In the view of the Commission this controversy is partly due to the original proposal not being clearly understood.

Given the degree of resistance expressed against the original proposal, both by the general public and also in the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, and given the need to have a proposal that is clearly and unambiguously understood the Commission wishes to bring forward an amended proposal that shall be acceptable to the largest number of Member States and understandable to the overwhelming majority of EU citizens.

The amended proposal firstly states more clearly that this proposal deals only with international lorry traffic on the Trans-European road Network (TEN-R). Member States will continue to have the right to set unlimited driving bans both for all roads other than the TEN-R network and for all national traffic.

Secondly the amended proposal shall increase the time when driving bans shall be automatically permitted on the TEN-R road network to a period of 24 hours. This period shall be extended during the Summer period enabling Member States to have driving bans on the TEN-R road network commencing at 07:00 on Saturdays in Summer and, if desired, lasting uninterrupted until 22:00 on Sundays. The adoption of such limits ensures that the proposal does not conflict with most existing national driving bans, whilst simultaneously stabilising the situation on driving bans in the EU thus highlighting the need for accession negotiations to examine the driving bans in potential future Member States.

The amended proposal shall also clearly state in an annex which national public holidays are automatically covered by driving bans. This does not, of course, put into question that it is the exclusive competence of each Member State to choose its national holidays. This annex will be revised automatically upon each notification by a Member State.

The proposal shall also be amended to take into account the new procedures following the adoption of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Those aspects of the proposal aiming to harmonise the types of transport that shall be exempt from driving bans remains unchanged. It will thus be for the Commission, in conjunction with the Member States by means of a regulatory committee to update, if and when necessary, the annex that contains the list of types of transport that shall be exempt from driving bans.

1998/0096 (COD)

Amended proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on a transparent system of harmonised rules for restrictions on heavy goods vehicles involved in international transport on designated roads

The Commission proposal in document COM(98)115 final - 98/0096 (SYN) is amended as follows :

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community Article 71.1 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [2],

[2] OJ C , , p. .

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee [3],

[3] OJ C , , p. .

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions [4],

[4] OJ C , , p. .

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty [5] ,Whereas:

[5] OJ C , , p. .

(1) There are currently no harmonised rules across the Community on driving restrictions for heavy goods vehicles on Sundays and public holidays.

(2) This lack of harmonised rules results in differences as regards the duration of driving restrictions and definitions of vehicles exempt from those restrictions.

(3) This situation has significant negative consequences for the freedom to provide transport services in the Community.

(4) The existence of driving bans that differ from Member State to Member State makes it impossible to make round trips over long distances without excessive interruptions. Peripheral regions of the Community are, in particular, highly and disproportionately affected by such driving restrictions because of their geographical situation.

(5) In accordance with the subsidiarity and proportionality principles as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the objectives of the proposed action, namely to establish a transparent system of harmonised rules for driving restrictions, thereby ensuring that the negative consequences for the freedom to provide transport services are reduced as far as possible, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can, therefore, by reason of the scale of the action be better achieved by the Community. This Directive confines itself to the minimum required in order to achieve those objectives and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose.

(6) It is desirable that, in particular for international transport, the negative impact of driving restrictions be minimised; whereas it would be desirable that certain roads, indicated in Annex I, Section 2 of Decision No. 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the Trans-European transport Network [6], be kept open for international transport. Therefore such roads should only be subject to new driving bans during certain hours on weekends, public holidays and the eve of public holidays. The Commission should be notified of such driving restrictions. Existing driving bans that are longer than the limits proposed shall be permitted to continue.

[6] OJ No. L 228, 9.9.1996, p.1, with Corrigendum published in O.J. No. L15, 17.1.1997, p.1

(7) This maximum permitted duration should be extendible in exceptional cases when such extension can be justified on environmental, road-safety or social grounds. A request for such an extension should be examined without delay by the Commission with the assistance of a committee.

(8) Member States should be able to restrict the circulation during the night of heavy goods vehicles whose noise exceeds Community standards. Member States should also be able to restrict heavy goods vehicles when exceptionally high traffic density is expected, for example during summer holiday periods. The Commission should be notified of such driving restrictions.

(9) Under special environmental or weather conditions Member States should be able to restrict the circulation of heavy goods vehicles on grounds of environmental protection or road safety. For practical reasons, it should be possible to adopt such restrictions without notifying the Commission.

(10) The types of heavy goods vehicles or transport operations which are exempted from bans in all Member States should be harmonised.

(11) The introduction of driving restrictions at national, regional and local level is currently done in an uncoordinated manner and, therefore, a system of notification on the timing and extent of these restrictions should be established. On the basis of these notifications the Commission should produce an annual report to the Member States.

(12) ; Since the measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive are measures of general scope within the meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission [7], they should be adopted by use of the regulatory procedure provided for in Article 5 of that Decision.

[7] OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23

(13) Each Member State should determine the penalties to be imposed in the event of an infringement of the provisions adopted for the implementation of this Directive.

(14) For the purposes of transparency, it is desirable to list in an Annex the national public holidays upon which driving bans currently apply. The Commission will amend this Annex at the request of Member States.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

This Directive establishes a transparent system of harmonised rules concerning driving restrictions applied for certain periods to heavy goods vehicles undertaking international transport on certain roads of the European Community.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive:

>TABLE POSITION>

Article 3

1. The scope of this Directive is limited to the TENs network.

2. Member States shall not impose driving restrictions on heavy goods vehicles involved in international transport which are stricter than those applied to heavy goods vehicles involved in national transport.

3. Member States may impose driving restrictions for all heavy goods vehicles

*From 16 September to 14 June between the hours of 22h00 on Saturday and 22h00 on Sunday, and between the hours of 22h00 on the eve of a public holiday and 22h00 on the day of a public holiday;

*From 15 June to 15 September between the hours of 07h00 on Saturday and 22h00 on Sunday, and between the hours of 22h00 on the eve of a public holiday and 22h00 on the day of a public holiday.

4. Member States may impose driving restrictions during the night, from 22h00 to 05h00, which apply to all heavy goods vehicles which do not comply with noise emission standards provided by Directive 96/20/EC [8].

[8] OJ No. L 92, 13.4.1996, p. 23

4a. Member States with driving restrictions in operation as of 1 November 2000 that exceed the limits laid down in paragraph 3 above may continue to apply them. Should the Member State concerned modify these driving restrictions, it can only do so in the sense of alignment with the restrictions mentioned in paragraph 3.5. Member States may only impose driving restrictions additional to those laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 on condition that heavy goods vehicles involved in international transport are exempted from those additional driving restrictions.

6. Notwithstanding paragraph 5 Member States may in exceptional cases impose driving restrictions extending the time limits laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 on heavy goods vehicles, including those undertaking international transport, provided that they submit evidence indicating that such additional restrictions can be justified on environmental, road safety or social grounds and after having received prior agreement from the Commission in accordance with the Committee procedure laid down in Article 8.

The evidence shall include an analysis which justifies the restrictions as a proportional measure by comparison with alternative traffic management measures.

The evidence shall quantify the effects of the additional restrictions on the basis of one or more of the following criteria:

a) relevant statistics and/or estimates, both including and excluding the circulation of heavy goods vehicles, concerning traffic density on weekends during different periods of the year (summer, winter, during holiday periods) and possible effects on congestion;

b) relevant statistics and/or estimates, both including and excluding the circulation of heavy goods vehicles, concerning rates of accidents both during periods where the additional restrictions would apply and at times when no restrictions are in force;

c) relevant data and/or estimates concerning the gaseous emissions saved, or noise pollution reduced by additional restrictions, including the negative effect that bans may have on the emissions of diversionary traffic and on traffic concentrated on periods of the week where no restrictions apply;

d) Social analysis on the impact of additional restrictions on the average working conditions of drivers of heavy goods vehicles registered both in Member States where these restrictions apply and in the other Member States, taking into account existing Community legislation in this field.

7. Notwithstanding paragraph 5, Member States may impose special driving restrictions on heavy goods vehicles, including those undertaking international transport, on those days and roads where:

a) exceptionally high traffic density is expected, for example during holiday periods;

b) circulation bans for limited periods of time are applying to cars, notably for environmental reasons;

c) restrictions for maintenance of infrastructure are deemed necessary;

d) restrictions under special weather conditions are required.

Article 4

Heavy goods vehicles and/or particular transport operations as defined in Annex I shall be exempted from the driving restrictions which are laid down in accordance with Articles 3(3), 3(5), 3(6) and point (a) of 3(7).

Article 5

1. Member States wishing to impose extended driving restrictions in accordance with Article 3(6) shall present a request to the Commission.

The Commission shall decide on such request in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 8 within two months of receipt of its receipt.

2. Member States wishing to impose driving restrictions in accordance with Article 3(3), 3(4), or point (a) of 3(7) shall notify the Commission at least 60 days in advance, giving details of the extent of those restrictions.

3. Member States wishing to amend any of the dates listed in Annex II as their national public holidays on which driving bans apply shall notify the Commission at least 60 days in advance. The Commission shall amend Annex II accordingly.

Article 6

On the basis of the information provided in Article 5, the Commission will prepare annually by 30 November a report on driving restrictions permitted under Articles 3(3), 3(4) 3(6) and point (a) of 3(7) for heavy goods vehicles performing international operations on the TENs network for the forthcoming year.

Article 7

The Commission shall adopt any amendments necessary to adapt Annex I in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8.

Article 8

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee, composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7(3) and Article 8 thereof.

3. The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be [3] months.

Article 9

Member States shall determine the penalties applicable to infringements of this Directive and shall take all necessary measures to ensure that they are enforced. The penalties they provide for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Member States shall notify the Commission of those measures no later than the date specified in the first subparagraph of Article 10 and shall notify it of amendments to them without delay.

Article 10

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by [31 December 2000] at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. . Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.

Member States shall apply these provisions from [1 July 2001].

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.

Article 11

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 12

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX I

Transport operations/types of vehicles exempt from driving restrictions

Vehicles performing combined transport operations as defined in Council Directive 92/106/EEC;

Certified ATP vehicles [9] transporting a load of ATP-defined perishable foodstuffs;

[9] As defined in the UN-ECE Agreement on the international carriage of perishable foodstuffs and the special equipment to be used for such carriage (ATP).

Certified ATP tankers for the transportation of liquid milk at controlled temperatures ;

Vehicles transporting a load of perishable fruits or vegetables;

Vehicles transporting exceptional loads as defined by Article 4(3) of Council Directive 96/53/EC [10].

[10] O.J. No. L235, 17.9.1996, p.59

ANNEX II

National public holidays on which Member States apply driving bans

National Public Holidays in Austria

New Year's Day

Epiphany

Easter Monday

Labour Day

Ascension Day

Whit Monday

Corpus Christi

Assumption

Austrian National Day (26 October)

All Saints Day

Immaculate Conception

Christmas Day

St. Stephen's' Day

National Public Holidays in France

New Year's Day

Easter Monday

Armistice Day (8 May)

Ascension Day

Whit Monday

Bastille Day (14 July)

Assumption

All Saints Day

Armistice Day (11 November)

Christmas Day

National Public Holidays in Germany

New Year's Day

Good Friday

Easter Monday

Labour Day

Ascension Day

Whit Monday

Day of German Unification (3 October)

Christmas Day

St. Stephen's' Day

National Public Holidays in Italy

New Year's Day

Epiphany

Good Friday

Easter Monday

Liberation Day (25 April)

Labour Day

All Saints Day

Immaculate Conception

Christmas Day

National Public Holidays in Luxembourg

New Year's Day

Easter Monday

Labour Day

Ascension Day

Whit Monday

Luxembourg National Day (23 June)

Assumption

All Saints Day

Christmas Day

St. Stephen's' Day

National Public Holidays in Spain

New Year's Day

Epiphany

Maundy Thursday

Good Friday

Labour Day

All Saints Day

Spanish Constitution Day (6 December)

Immaculate Conception

Christmas Day