Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road () (95/C 236/11)

On 6 May 1995 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 10 May 1995. The Rapporteur was Mr De Norre.

At its 326th Plenary Session on 31 May and 1 June 1995 (meeting of 31 May 1995) the Economic and Social Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion.

1. Introduction

1.1. Directives 84/647/EEC and 90/398/EEC, published in OJs L 335 of 22 December 1984 and L 202 of 31 July 1990 respectively, require the Member States, as a minimum measure, to allow the use within their territories, for the carriage of goods between Member States, of vehicles hired without drivers, provided that the vehicles concerned are:

- registered and in a roadworthy condition in a Member State;

- driven by personnel of the lessee undertaking;

- at the sole disposal of said undertaking during the hire contract;

the above to be proved by documents which must be carried on board the vehicles.

1.2. The current Directives also allow Member States to impose two types of restriction:

- the vehicles may only be hired in the Member State in which the lessee is established;

- Member States may exclude from the scope of the Directive own-account transport operations carried out by vehicles with a total permissible laden weight of more than 6 tonnes.

In national law, Member States may also lay down conditions less restrictive than those in the Directives.

1.3. The proposal requires Member States to accept the following on their territories:

- own-account use of hired vehicles, with no weight limit;

- the use of vehicles for transport between Member States, hired in a Member State other than the one in which the lessee undertaking is established; the Member State concerned may, however, restrict the maximum duration of the hire contract to 2 months (but not less).

1.4. The proposal does not cover the use of hired vehicles for cabotage operations (national transport carried out by non-residents), due to persistent discrepancies between Member States in the field of taxation and roadworthiness tests.

2. General comments

2.1. The proposal should be assessed in the context of overall transport policy, its impact and implications, especially on the social level, and in the light of the conclusions of the Group of Experts on the carriage of goods by road.

2.2. The Commission justifies the new proposal by the need to pursue the process of harmonizing and liberalizing conditions for the use of vehicles hired without drivers throughout the European Union.

2.3. From this standpoint, the Committee supports the objective pursued by the Commission, particularly in the third and fourth recitals, which highlight the macro- and microeconomic benefits of hired vehicle use.

2.4. In a single market, a road haulier or any other undertaking wishing to use hired vehicles for varying periods of time, without having to buy or lease the vehicle in question, must be able freely to make use of any opportunity offered by the hire market.

2.5. As emphasized in its Opinion of 28 March 1990 on the previous proposal on the same subject, the Committee points out that these opportunities concern all hired capital goods where the lessees require the lessor not only to provide the equipment, but also to maintain it.

2.6. Vehicle hire involves supplying means of transport to meet demand. It is therefore a different activity from transport itself. Users are calling for liberalization in all the EU Member States.

2.7. The Committee believes that the proposal makes only a partial contribution to the aim of harmonizing and liberalizing the market in vehicles hired for the carriage of goods by road.

Deleting Article 3(1) of the existing Directives would confine the new directive's scope to the use of vehicles hired for the carriage of goods between Member States.

2.8. The Committee is unsure how the Member States could enforce compliance with Article 2(5)(b), which stipulates that proof must be provided that the vehicle hired is driven by the lessee or by a driver employed by the lessee. Such proof is necessary since the vehicle may be hired in any Member State, regardless of differences in wage costs. As already expressed in a previous Opinion, the Committee 'stresses the importance of this provision and, in particular, the need to ensure that hiring vehicles without a driver does not lead to an increase in casual and undeclared employment'.

2.9. Further, the Committee recommends harmonization of monitoring arrangements in this area, as otherwise unfair forms of competition will flourish.

2.10. Lastly, the Committee appreciates the fact that this proposal involves a recasting of existing legislation, which should ensure greater clarity of texts.

3. Specific comments

3.1. The Committee welcomes the deletion of Article 3(2) of the existing Directives: this would put a stop to Member States restricting own-account use to hired vehicles with a low permissible laden weight.

3.2. Subject to the comments contained in 2.8 above, the Committee also welcomes the new Articles 3 and 5, under which Member States would no longer be able to prevent an undertaking established in any EU Member State from hiring vehicles in any other Member State, for the purposes of traffic between Member States.

3.3. Lastly, the Committee notes that the new directive does not affect the provisions restricting the temporary import of hired vehicles (generally to 6 months).

Done at Brussels, 31 May 1995.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Carlos FERRER

() OJ No C 80, 1. 4. 1995, p. 9.