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Brussels, 6.3.2007

SEC(2007) 304

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Accompanying document to theProposal for aREGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCILamending Regulation No 11 concerning the abolition of discrimination in transport rates and conditions, in implementation of Article 79 (3) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffsImpact Assessment Summary(Regulation 11 Transport document){COM(2007) 90 final}{SEC(2007) 303}{SEC(2007) 301}{SEC(2007) 302}

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Accompanying document to theProposal for aREGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCILamending Regulation No 11 concerning the abolition of discrimination in transport rates and conditions, in implementation of Article 79 (3) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffsImpact Assessment Summary(Regulation 11 Transport document)

Executive Summary

The proposal this Impact Assessment accompanies is part of the wide ranging administrative burden reduction exercise. Regulation No 11 concerning the abolition of discrimination in transport rates and conditions was introduced in 1960 and requires transporters of goods across EU borders to provide information on tariffs, agreements, price deals and transport conditions on a transport document that they need to carry with them when transporting the goods. These requirements stem from a time when intra-EU transport was heavily regulated and significant information obligations were required to comply with the rules in force. With liberalisation of goods transport, many of these information requirements are no longer needed. Moreover, the same information is in any event included in other documentation such as, for example, consignment notes. The requirement to still fill in this separate document serves no additional value and costs freight forwarders time and money to produce. There is an opportunity cost to the time currently needed for filling in these forms and it is estimated that the annual costs stemming from these requirements to be approximately EUR 160 million. As in many EU countries the freight forwarding sector contains a substantial proportion of SMEs they are particularly affected by the existing requirement.

The main objective of the proposal is to contribute to the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, in particular by reducing unnecessary administrative burdens. The operational objective is to ensure that obsolete reporting requirements are removed so that the freight transport sector can become more efficient. As the objectives are about reducing the administrative burden on business and the improvement of EU competitiveness, while preserving levels of protection, they are fully consistent with the Lisbon strategy and the Sustainable Development strategy.

The impact assessment considers two policy options:

Option 1 No-Policy Change

Option 2 Abolishing the obligation to provide information on routes, distances, rates and other transport conditions, and facilitating the use of information available from other sources such as consignment notes and the carriers accounting system to ensure the continued availability of needed information.

Option 2 is the preferred option, because it allows costs savings and productivity benefits to be utilised while the same level of essential information continues to be available.