No C 48/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 20.2.85 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down the conditions for access to the 
arrangements under the Revised Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine relating to 
vessels belonging to the Rhine Navigation 
COM(85) 10 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 31 January 1985) 
(85/C 48/05) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 75 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas transport operations on the Rhine are 
governed by the Revised Convention for the Navi­
gation of the Rhine, as amended by Additional 
Protocol 2 signed in Strasbourg on 17 October 1979 
by the six Contracting States to the Convention, that 
is to say five Member States of the European 
Community (Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, 
France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) 
and Switzerland; 
Whereas the said Additional Protocol stipulates that 
only vessels belonging to the Rhine Navigation shall 
be authorized to transport merchandise and persons 
between two points situated on the inland waterways 
referred to in the first paragraph of Article 3 of the 
Revised Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine; 
whereas vessels are considered to belong to the Rhine 
Navigation if they carry a document issued by the 
competent authority; 
Whereas the Protocol of Signature to the 
abovementioned Additional Protocol provides that 
the document certifying that a vessel belongs to the 
Rhine Navigation shall be issued by the competent 
authority of the State concerned only to vessels which 
have with that State a genuine link the constitutent factors of which are to be determined on the basis of 
equal treatment between Contracting States to the 
Revised Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine; 
whereas, under the terms of the Protocol of 
Signature, the same treatment must be accorded to 
vessels which have a genuine link with another 
Member State of the European Community; 
Whereas, for this purpose, the Contracting States to 
the Revised Convention for the Navigation of the 
Rhine have worked out, within the Central 
Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCR), 
implementing provisions determining the conditions 
under which the abovementioned document should be 
issued; whereas, by Decision of 8 November 1984, 
the Council, acting on a proposal from the 
Commission, defined the common action under which 
Member States which are also Contracting States to 
the Revised Convention for the Navigation of the 
Rhine adopted these provisions in the form of a 
Resolution of the CCR; 
Whereas, although covered by a specific international 
Convention, transport operations on the Rhine form 
part of the common transport policy and it is hence 
necessary, in particular to ensure equal treatment for 
vessels of all Member States, to incorporate the 
implementing provisions adopted by the CCR into 
Community law by means of a Council Regulation 
adopted under Article 75 of the Treaty and to make 
the requisite amendments to those provisions to bring 
them into line with Community rules and procedures; 
Whereas provision should therefore be made for the 
Commission of the European Communities to act as 
intermediary where the CCR is involved; 
Whereas it is necessary to adopt at Community level, 
implementing measures to apply the CCR's 
implementing provisions and these measures should 
be adopted by the Commission, 
20.2.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 48/5 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION, 
Article 1 
This Regulation defines the conditions for issuing the 
document certifying that the vessel concerned belongs 
to the Rhine Navigation, which must be carried by 
every vessel in order to be covered by the rules laid 
down in the first paragraph of Article 4 of the 
Revised Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine, 
as amended by Additional Protocol 2 of 17 October 
1979. 
Article 2 
1. The authorities of the Member State in which a 
vessel is registered in a public register shall alone be 
competent to issue and withdraw the document 
referred to in Article 1. 
2. In the absence of a public register or in the 
event of a vessel not being registered in a Member 
State, the authorities of the Member State in which 
the owner of the vessel or, in the case of joint 
ownership, the first joint owner to apply for issue of 
the document referred in Article 1, has his domicile, 
usual residence or registered office shall be competent 
to issue or withdraw that document. 
3. The document may take the form either of a 
special document or of an endorsement on another 
document already issued certifying that the vessel 
belongs to the Rhine Navigation. 
4. Each Member State shall send to the Central 
Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine a list of 
the competent authorities it has appointed to issue 
and withdraw the document referred to in Article 1 
so that the other States concerned may be informed. 
It shall send this list to the Central Commission for 
the Navigation of the Rhine either directly, at the 
same time sending a copy to the Commission of the 
European Communities, or through the Commission, 
which shall then inform the other Member States. 
Article 3 
1. The document referred to in Article 1 shall not 
be issued for a vessel unless its owner: 
(a) as a natural person, is a national of one of the 
Member States or of another Contracting State to 
the Revised Convention for the Navigation of the 
Rhine, hereinafter referred to as 'another 
Contracting State', and has his domicile or usual 
residence in one of those States; (b) as a legal person governed by public law, is 
established under the laws of a Member State or 
of another Contracting State and has its 
registered office in that State; 
(c) as a legal person or company governed by private 
law: 
(aa) is established in a Member State or in 
another contracting State under its law; 
(bb) has its registered office, principal place of 
business and place from which the vessel is 
operated in that State; and 
(cc) is managed and directed by persons the 
majority of whom are nationals of Member 
States or of another Contracting State, and 
who have their domicile or usual residence 
or, in the case of legal persons, their 
registered office in one of those States. 
2. No document shall be issued in respect of a 
vessel belonging to a legal person or company 
governed by private law if it is so constituted that the 
persons holding directly or indirectly a majority share 
in the beneficial ownership of the undertaking or 
holding the majority of shares conferring voting 
rights or the majority of voting rights, either are not 
nationals of the Member States or of another 
Contracting State, or do not have their domicile, 
registered office or usual residence in one of those 
States. 
3. In the event of fiduciary relationships or similar 
arrangements, the conditions laid down in paragraphs 
1 and 2 must also be fulfilled by the persons on 
whose behalf or in whose interest transactions are 
performed. 
4. A Member State may, exceptionally, after 
consulting the Central Commission for the Navi­
gation of the Rhine, grant derogations in respect of 
the majority required in paragraphs 1 (c) (cc) and 2, 
on condition that the objective of Additional Protocol 
2 to the Revised Convention for the Navigation of 
the Rhine is not affected. The Member State shall 
consult the Central Commission for the Navigation of 
the Rhine either directly, at the same time sending a 
copy of the file to the Commission of the European 
Communities, or through the Commission. 
The Commission of the European Communities shall 
if necessary lay down the general conditions under 
which such derogations may be granted in Member 
States, while ensuring that the rules of the Revised 
Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine are 
observed. 
No C 48/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 20.2.85 
Article 4 
1. In the case of a vessel which is jointly owned, 
the joint owner or joint owners who hold a majoirty 
share in the joint ownership and who manage the 
joint ownership must satisfy the conditions laid down 
in Article 3. 
2. If there are legal persons or companies governed 
by private law among the joint owners concerned, the 
persons who manage and direct those undertakings 
and the persons who hold directly or indirectly a 
share in their beneficial ownership must all be 
nationals of Member States or of another Contracting 
State and have their domicile, registered office or 
usual residence in one of those States. 
Article 5 
1. The operator of a vessel must also fulfil the 
same conditions as the owner in order to obtain the 
document referred to in Article 1 for the vessel which 
he is operating. 
2. The authorities of the Member State or of 
another Contracting State in which the operator has 
his domicile or usual residence or in which the 
registered office of the operating undertaking is 
situated shall be competent to issue or withdraw the 
relevant document. 
Article 6 
1. The owner, joint owner or operator of the 
vessel shall submit to the competent authority an 
application for the issue of the document referred to 
in Article 1 and shall furnish all true and necessary 
information to that end. 
2. The owner, joint owner and operator of the 
vessel, each in so far as he is concerned, shall inform 
the competent authority which issued the document, 
immediately and in writing, of any change in the 
circumstances on the basis of which the document 
was issued. 
3. The competent authorities may at any time 
verify whether the conditions laid down in Articles 3, 
4 and 5 are still fulfilled. If they are not, they shall 
withdraw the document. Article 7 
1. The document certifying that the vessel belongs 
to the Rhine Navigation must identify the vessel, its 
owner and, where appropriate, the operator by 
stating, inter alia: 
— the name, number, place of registration, type and 
category of the vessel, 
— the name, business name, domicile, usual 
residence or registered office of the owner and, 
where appropriate, of the operator. 
2. The document must be kept on board the vessel 
and must be produced on request to the inspecting 
authorities. 
Article 8 
1. Member States shall adopt the implementing 
provisions required, in particular as regards the 
procedure and burden of proof. 
Each Member State shall send its implementing 
provisions to the Central Commission for the Navi­
gation of the Rhine so that the other States 
concerned may be informed. It shall send them either 
directly to the Central Commission for the Navi­
gation of the Rhine, at the same time sending a copy 
to the Commission of the European Communities, or 
through the Commission, which shall then forward 
them to the other Member States. 
2. To ensure application of this Regulation the 
competent authorities of the Member States shall 
provide mutual assistance under their national law 
and shall send to each other any necessary infor­
mation, subject to the requirements of commercial 
confidentiality. 
Article 9 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 
However, Article 7 (2) shall apply only after a 
transitional period of two years from that date. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.