Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 95/50/EC on uniform procedures for checks on the transport of dangerous goods by road"

(2000/C 268/03)

On 23 March 2000 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 71 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 8 June 2000. The rapporteur was Mr Ghigonis.

At its 374th plenary session on 12 and 13 July (meeting of 12 July 2000) the Committee adopted the following opinion by 111 votes to 0, with 2 abstentions.

1. Commission proposal

1.1. The proposal for amendment of Directive 95/50/EC has two objectives:

- Firstly, amending Annex I to Directive 95/50/EC to bring it into line with Directive 94/55/EC(1). The most recent change to that Directive, aligning it with the ADR agreement, dates from 21 May 1999(2).

- Secondly, introducing a so-called "committee" procedure similar to the one laid down in Article 9 of Directive 94/55/EC.

2. General comments

2.1. First and foremost, the Economic and Social Committee is aware of the importance of compliance with strict rules on the transport of dangerous goods by road, given that any accident or incident can lead to extremely serious consequences.

2.2. The Economic and Social Committee endorses the terms of the Commission proposal.

2.3. The ESC stresses the importance of introducing the committee procedure. With a view to the restructuring of the ADR, expected for 1 July 2001, and bearing in mind the scale of the adaptations to that agreement, it is essential to set up this regulatory committee to ensure the proper functioning of Directive 95/50/EC in future.

3. Specific comments

3.1. The readjustment of Annex I to the legal provisions in force must be accompanied by adaptation of Annex II.

3.2. The latter annex makes no distinction between the various infringements and confines itself to simply listing them. It would be wiser to classify the infringements committed according to seriousness. Such a classification would be indispensable not only to officials carrying out the checks but also to road haulage contractors.

3.3. Moreover, it would enable the Member States to use the classification (e.g. very serious, serious and less serious) as a basis for the fines to be paid for the infringements. If Annex II included such a classification, it would limit the anomalies arising from an infringement being regarded as very serious in one Member State and less serious in another.

3.4. The ESC also recommends that the Member States harmonise as far as possible all the rules on checking and issue clear instructions to this end to the various bodies responsible for the checks.

Brussels, 12 July 2000.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli

(1) Council Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November 1994 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road (OJ L 319, 12.12.1994, p. 7) - ESC Opinion: OJ C 195, 18.7.1994, p. 15.

(2) Commission Directive 1999/47/EC of 21 May 1999 adapting for the second time to technical progress Council Directive 94/55/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road (OJ L 169, 5.7.1999, p. 1).