Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council
Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 on access to the market in the carriage of goods by road withinthe Community to and from the territory of a Member State or passing across the territory of one
or more Member States as regards a uniform Driver Attestation
(2001/C 96 E/10)
(Text with EEA relevance)
COM(2000) 751 final  2000/0297(COD)
(Submitted by the Commission on 23 November 2000)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 71 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee,
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty,
Whereas:
(1) Pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 of 26
March 1992 on access to the market in the carriage ofgoods by road within the Community to and from theterritory of a Member State or passing across the territoryof one or more Member States (
1), internal Community
transport operations are liberated from quantitativerestrictions amongst other things by the issue of aCommunity authorization as a uniform document.
(2) The absence of a similar uniform document certifying the
entitlement of drivers to drive the vehicles engaged insuch international carriage subject to Community auth-orization has led to serious control difficulties forenforcement bodies.
(3) National enforcement bodies in Member States find it (in
the absence of a uniform Driver attestation) impossible toascertain whether a driver of a vehicle engaged in inter-national carriage subject to Community authorization,which has been issued in another Member State, is auth-orised to do so according to the national legislation of thelatter Member State.
(4) Given these control difficulties the employment status of
drivers is normally only checked in the Member Stateswhere the employing haulier is established.(5) The impossibility to check the employment status of
drivers outside the Member State of establishment hasled to a market situation where drivers are engagedirregularly and solely for international carriage outsidethe haulier’s Member State of establishment with anintent to breach the national legislation of the MemberState of establishment having issued the haulier’sCommunity authorization.
(6) Where such irregularly used drivers are engaged they are
often working under detrimental conditions and salariesleading to serious road safety concerns.
(7) Such a systematic breach of national legislation has led to
serious distortion of competition between hauliersengaged in such practices and those that are still usingonly drivers lawfully employed.
(8) The authorised bodies of Member States find it impossible
to control the working conditions of those irregularlyused drivers.
(9) Only a uniform document will give Member States the
possibility to ascertain that drivers are lawfully engaged orput at the disposal of the haulier responsible for thetransport operation.
(10) This regulation leaves the legislation and provisions of
Member States and the Community governingmovement, residence and access to an activity as anemployed person unaffected.
(11) In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the
objectives of the proposed regulation, namely to introduce
a single uniform Driver Attestation, cannot be sufficientlyachieved by the Member States and can therefore, byreason of scale and effects of the regulation, be betterachieved by the Community. This regulation confinesitself to the minimum required in order to achievethose objectives and does not go beyond what isnecessary for that purpose.EN 27.3.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities C 96 E/207
(1) OJ L 95, 9.4.1992, p. 1; Regulation amended by the Act of
Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden.
(12) Member States need time to have the new driver attes-
tation printed and distributed and this Regulation shalltherefore apply only after sufficient time has been givento Member States to adopt the measures necessary for itsimplementation.
(13) It should be expressly confirmed that Member States have
the possibility to require that a vehicle for which theyissue a certified copy of the Community authorisation isregistered in their territory.
(14) Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 should be amended
accordingly,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 is amended as follows:
1. in Article 2 the following indent is added:
 driver shall mean the person who drives a vehicle, or
who is carried in that vehicle in order to be availablefor driving if necessary;
2. Article 3 is amended as follows:
(a) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
1. International carriage shall be carried out subject
to Community authorization in conjunction with aDriver attestation unless the driver and the holder ofthe Community authorization are identical.
(b) The following paragraph 3 is added:
3. Driver attestations shall be issued by a Member
State, in accordance with Article 6, to any haulier who:
 is the holder of a Community authorization
 in that Member State lawfully employs drivers or
uses drivers lawfully put at his disposal inaccordance with the relevant legislation andprovisions of that Member State.
3. Article 4 is replaced by the following:
Article 4
1. The Community authorization referred to in Article 3
shall replace the document issued by the competent auth-orities of the Member State of establishment, where such adocument exists, certifying that the haulier has been grantedaccess to the market in the international carriage of goodsby road.For carriage falling within the scope of this Regulation it
shall also replace both the Community authorizations andthe bilateral authorizations exchanged between MemberStates which are necessary until this Regulation comesinto force.
2. The Driver attestation referred to in Article 3 shall
certify that the driver of a vehicle engaged in internationalcarriage under the cover of a Community authorization islegally entitled, in accordance with the relevant provisionsand rules of the Member State of establishment, to drivethat vehicle in that Member State.
4. Article 5 is amended as follows:
(a) The following paragraph 5 is added:
5. The Community authorization shall be issued for
a renewable period of five years.
5. Article 6 is replaced by the following:
Article 6
1. The Driver attestation referred to in Article 3 shall be
issued by the competent authorities of the Member State ofestablishment of the haulage undertaking.
2. The Member States shall issue the holder of the
Community authorization, on request, with a Driver attes-tation for each driver lawfully employed or lawfully put atthe disposal of the holder of the Community authorizationin accordance with the relevant national provisions andrules of that Member State. Each Driver attestationcertifies that the driver named therein is entitled in theissuing Member State to drive a vehicle on behalf of theholder of the Community authorization to whom the Driverattestation is issued.
3. The Driver attestation shall correspond to the model
set out in Annex III, which also lays down the conditionsgoverning its use. Member States shall take all necessarysteps to avoid any risk of forgery of Driver attestations.
4. The Driver attestation shall belong to the haulier who
puts it at the disposal of the driver described therein whenthis driver drives a vehicle engaged in international carriageusing a Community authorization issued to that haulier. Acertified copy of the Driver attestation shall be kept at thepremises of the haulier. The Driver attestation must beproduced whenever required by an authorized inspectingofficer.
5. The Driver attestation shall be issued for a period to
be determined by the issuing Member State, with amaximum validity of five years. The Driver attestationshall only be valid as long as the conditions under whichit was issued are satisfied. Member States shall take appro-priate measures to ensure that these attestations arereturned immediately by the haulier to the issuing auth-orities if these conditions are no longer met.EN C 96 E/208 Official Journal of the European Communities 27.3.2001
6. Article 7 is replaced by the following:
Article 7
1. Whenever an application for a Community auth-
orization is lodged, not more than five years after issueand subsequently at least every five years, the competentauthorities of the Member State of establishment shall
verify whether the haulier satisfies or still satisfies the
conditions laid down in Article 3(2).
2. The competent authorities of the Member State of
establishment shall verify regularly whether the conditionsreferred to in Article 3(3) under which a Driver attestationhas been issued are still satisfied.
7. Article 8 is replaced by the following:
Article 8
1. If the conditions laid down in Article 3(2), respectively
referred to in Article 3(3) are not satisfied, the competentauthorities of the Member State of establishment shall rejectan application for the issue or renewal of a Communityauthorization, respectively a Driver attestation, by means
of a reasoned decision.
2. The competent authorities shall withdraw a
Community authorization, respectively a Driver attestationwhere the holder:
 no longer satisfies the conditions laid down in Article
3(2), respectively referred to in Article 3(3),
 has supplied incorrect information in relation to the
data required for the issue of a Community auth-orization, respectively a Driver attestation.
3. In the event of serious infringements or repeated
minor infringements of carriage regulations, thecompetent authorities of the Member State of establishment
of the haulier who has committed such infringements may
inter alia temporarily or partially suspend the certified truecopies of the Community authorization and may suspendDriver attestations. These sanctions shall be determinedhaving regard to the seriousness of the infringementcommitted by the holder of the Community authorizationand having regard to the total number of certified copiesthat he holds in respect of international traffic.
4. In the event of serious infringements or repeated
minor infringements regarding any misuse whatsoever ofDriver attestations, the competent authorities of theMember State of establishment of the haulier who has
committed such infringements shall take appropriatesanctions, for instance:
 suspend the issue of Driver attestations,
 withdraw Driver attestations,
 make the issue of Driver attestations subject to
additional conditions in order to prevent any misuse,
 temporarily or partially suspend the certified true copies
of the Community authorization.
These sanctions shall be determined having regard to the
seriousness of the infringement committed by the holder ofthe Community authorization.
8. Article 9 is replaced by the following:
Article 9
1. The Member States shall guarantee that the applicant
or the holder of a Community authorization is able toappeal against any decision by the competent authorities
of the Member State of establishment to refuse or
withdraw an authorization.
2. The Member States shall guarantee that the holder of a
Community authorization is able to appeal against anydecision by the competent authorities of the MemberState of establishment to refuse or withdraw a Driver attes-tation or to make the issue of Driver attestations subject toadditional conditions.
9. The text appearing in Annex to this Regulation shall be
added as Annex III.
Article 2
The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
measures they take to implement this Regulation.
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities .
It shall apply from [one year] after its entry into force.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.EN 27.3.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities C 96 E/209
ANNEX
ANNEX III
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
(a)
(Colour Pink  DIN A4)
(First page of the attestation)
(Text in (one of) the official language(s) of the Member State issuing the attestation)
State issuing the attestation
Distinguishing sign (1)Name of the competent authority or body
DRIVER ATTESTATION No . . .
for the international carriage of goods by road for hire or reward
This attestation certifies that the following driver (2): .......................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................
is entitled in the Member State issuing the attestation to drive for (3) ..........................................................................................
............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................
a vehicle engaged in the international carriage of goods by road for hire or reward by any route, for journeys or parts of
journeys effected for hire or reward within the territory of the Community, as laid down in Council Regulation (EEC)No 881/92 of 26 March 1992.
Particular remarks: ............................................................................................................. .........................................................................
............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................
This attestation shall be valid from ........................................................................ to ...................... ..................................................
Issued in ..............................................................................................., on ..................... ..........................................................................
.......................................................................................................
(
4)
(1) The distinguishing signs are: (A) Austria, (B) Belgium, (DK) Denmark, (D) Germany, (GR) Greece, (E) Spain, (F) France, (FIN) Finland,
(IRL) Ireland, (I) Italy, (L) Luxembourg, (NL) Netherlands, (P) Portugal, (S) Sweden, (UK) United Kingdom.
(2) Personal data of driver: last name, first names, birth date and place, nationality, passport number.
(3) Name or business name and full address of the haulier.
(4) Signature and stamp of the issuing competent authority or body.EN C 96 E/210 Official Journal of the European Communities 27.3.2001
(Second page of the attestation)
(Text in (one of) the official language(s) of the Member State issuing the attestation)
GENERAL PROVISIONS
This attestation is issued under Council Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 of 26 March 1992 as modified, on access to the
market in the carriage of goods by road within the Community to or from the territory of a Member State or passingacross the territory of one or more Member States.
It certifies that the driver named therein is entitled in the Member State issuing the attestation to drive a vehicle (
1)
engaged in international carriage on behalf of the haulier to whom the Community authorization is issued underCouncil Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 of 26 March 1992.
The Driver attestation shall belong to the haulier who puts it at the disposal of the driver described therein when this
driver drives a vehicle engaged in international carriage using a Community authorization issued to that haulier. TheDriver attestation is not transferable. The Driver attestation shall only be valid as long as the conditions under which itwas issued are still satisfied and must be returned immediately by the haulier to the issuing authorities if these
conditions are no longer met.
It may be withdrawn by the competent authority of the Member State which issued it, notably where the haulier has:
 not complied with all the conditions for using the attestation,
 supplied incorrect information with regard to the data needed for the issue or extension of the attestation.
A certified copy of the attestation must be kept by the haulage undertaking.
The original attestation must be kept in the vehicle and must be produced by the driver whenever required by an
authorised inspecting officer.
(1) Vehicle means a motor vehicle registered in a Member State or a coupled combination of vehicles, the motor vehicle of which at
least is registered in a Member State, used exclusively for the carriage of goods. EN 27.3.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities C 96 E/211