Amended proposal for a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL REGULATION on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles travelling in Switzerland

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC-Treaty)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

A. On 26 February 1999, the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for a Regulation on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles travelling in Switzerland (COM (1999) 35 final). On 22 September 1999, the proposal was endorsed by the Economic and Social Committee.

On 15 December 1999, the European Parliament delivered its opinion on the proposal at the first reading.

The Commission has accepted all amendments (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6), for the following reasons :

Amendment 1 because it is a linguistic correction applied to the German text only.

Amendment 2 because it adds precision to the 8th whereas without changing its intent.

Amendments 3 and 6 because they revise the type of Management Committee proposed in the Regulation in accordance with the new rules on committees.

Amendments 4 and 5 because the change in dates at which new permits are distributed and unused permits shall be returned for redistribution will have no negative effect on the well-functioning of the Regulation and may, indeed, improve its practical operation.

B. The Commission therefore modifies its proposal as follows :

Amendment 1 makes a necessary linguistic correction to the German text.

Amendment 2 clarifies the 8th whereas by making it more explicit.

Amendments 3 and 6 revise the comitology procedure and bring it into line with the latest rules for a Regulatory Committee.

Amendment 4 establishes a new deadline by which permits are to be distributed.

Amendment 5 establishes a new deadline by which unused permits are to be returned to the Commission.

The modifications to the initial proposal from the Commission have been indicated as follows : where parts of the initial text were deleted, the 'strike through' tool was used; new and/or modified parts of the text were indicated using the 'bold' and 'underline' tools.

1999/0022 (COD)

Amended proposal for a

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL REGULATION

on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles travelling in Switzerland

The proposal made by the Commission in COM (1999) 35 final - COD 1999/0022 is hereby amended as follows

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 [1],

[1] OJ C

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic & Social Committee [2],

[2] OJ C

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions [3]

[3] OJ C

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty [4],

[4]

Whereas :

(1) By Council Decision No ..... [5] the European Community has concluded an Agreement with the Confederation of Switzerland on the transport of goods and passengers by rail and road.

[5]

(2) That Agreement provides for a system of permits to allow heavy goods vehicles to circulate on Swiss territory with weights in excess of that normally permitted in that country.

(3) That Agreement also provides for a system of permits for empty and light goods vehicles to circulate on Swiss territory at reduced charges.

(4) It is necessary to establish rules governing the distribution and management of the permits which are made available to the Community.

(5) For practical and management reasons, those permits should be made available to the Member States by the Commission.

(6) To that end, an allocation method should be established. Thereafter, the Member States should share out the amounts allocated to them among undertakings in accordance with objective criteria.

(7) In order to ensure the optimal use of permits, all unallocated permits should be returned to the Commission for redistribution.

(8) The allocation of permits should be based on criteria that take full account of existing freight transport flows and genuine transport needs across the Alpine region.

(9) That allocation may have to be revised in the light of new statistical evidence. In carrying out such revisions, the Commission shall be assisted by a Committee.

(10) Implementing measures have to be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission [6].

[6] OJ C 114, 27.4.1999, p.4

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

This Regulation lays down the rules for the distribution between the Member States of permits available to the Community by virtue of Articles 8 and 40(3)(b) of the Agreement between the European Community and the Confederation of Switzerland on the transport of goods and passengers by rail and road (hereinafter referred to as "The Agreement").

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation :

(1) 'full-weight permit' shall mean a permit issued under Article 8 of the Agreement allowing goods vehicles to circulate on Swiss territory at weights up to a maximum of 40 tonnes;

(2) 'empty permit' shall mean a permit issued under Article 40 of the Agreement allowing goods vehicles that are empty or are transporting light loads, as defined in Annex 11 to the Agreement, to circulate on Swiss territory at a special tariff, as laid down in Article 40 of the Agreement.

Article 3

1. The Commission shall allocate permits in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 5.

2. The full-weight permits shall be allocated in accordance with Annex I.

3. The empty permits shall be allocated in accordance with Annex II.

4. The permits for each year shall be allocated before 15 August of the preceding year.

5. The number of permits allocated for the first year of implementation of the Agreement shall be adjusted pro rata if the Agreement has entered into force after 1 January of that year.

Article 4

Member States shall distribute permits amongst the undertakings established in their territory according to objective and non-discriminatory criteria.

Article 5

Before 15 September each year, Member States shall transfer to the Commission those permits for that year which have not been allocated to undertakings.

The Commission shall allocate those permits in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7 to one or more Member States in order to ensure an optimal use of those permits.

Article 6

The Commission shall carry out a detailed survey before 1 January 2000 in order to provide accurate statistics on bilateral and transit traffic flows of heavy goods vehicles in the Alpine region, notably as regards the origin and destination of the vehicles and their Member State of registration.

On the basis of the survey, the Commission shall recalculate the allocations in accordance with the methodology laid down in Annex III.

Should the recalculation result in an allocation for any Member State which differs from that set out in Annexes I and II by more than 5%, but by at least 500 permits, any amendments necessary to adapt Annexes I and II shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7.

Article 7

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7(3) and Article 8 thereof.

3. The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be three months.

4. The European Parliament shall be informed by the Commission of Committee proceedings on a regular basis, pursuant to Article 7(3) of the Decision. The principles and conditions on public access to documents applicable to the Commission shall apply to the Committee

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on the same day as the Agreement.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX I

Scale for allocating full-weight permits

The quantity of full-weight permits as laid down in Article 8 of the Agreement shall be allocated by the Commission to the Member States as follows:

>TABLE POSITION>

ANNEX II

Scale for allocating empty permits

The quantity of empty permits as laid down in Article 40 of and Annex 11 to the Agreement shall be allocated by the Commission to the Member States as follows:

>TABLE POSITION>

ANNEX III

Methodology for determining the allocation of permits

The allocation of the permits shall take place on the basis of the following methodology:

Full-weight permits

A basic allocation of 1 500 permits will be made to each Member State.

The remaining permits will be allocated in equal parts on the basis of criteria relating to transit traffic and on the basis of criteria relating to bilateral traffic.

Bilateral traffic

The allocation will take place on the basis of the shares of heavy vehicles registered in the Member States in bilateral road transport to and from Switzerland.

Transit traffic

The allocation will take place on the basis of the shares of heavy vehicles registered in the Member States in the total number of diverted kilometres in north-south trans-Alpine road traffic as a result of the current weight restrictions in Switzerland.

Diverted mileage will be calculated as the difference between the actual distance of trans-Alpine journeys and the shortest distance through Switzerland. The mileages through Switzerland will be adjusted to take into account border delays and road traffic conditions by means of an addition of 60 kilometres.

For those Member States where the above method leads to less than 200 permits, the allocation will be established at a level of 200 permits.

Empty permits

The empty permits will be allocated on the basis of the shares of vehicles registered in the Member States in the transit traffic through Switzerland of vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes.

The figures in Annexes I and II are based on the above methodology, available statistics and a number of assumptions where no statistics were available. The available statistics and the assumptions will be replaced by the results of the survey when the Commission recalculates Annexes I and II.

Survey

The survey will generate the following data:

The origin and destination and the Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of trans-Alpine transit traffic by vehicles with a laden weight above 28 tonnes, via the Brenner and the Mt Blanc tunnel.

The origin and destination and the Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of bilateral traffic by vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes with origin or destination in Switzerland.

The Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of transit traffic journeys by road through Switzerland of vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes.