30. 1.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 23/49 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council recommendation concerning the international 
company for piggyback transport 
(84/C 23/16) 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the Euro­
pean Communities No C 179 of 6 July 1983, page 4. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 11 July 1983 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic 
and Social Committee in accordance with Article 198 (1) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 
212th plenary session held in Brussels on 23 and 24 November 1983. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­
pean Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 198 (1) thereof, 
Having regard to the Council's decision on 11 July 
1983 to ask for an opinion on the abovementioned 
proposal, 
Having regard to the decision of its Bureau on 5 
July 1983 instructing the Section for Transport and 
Communications to prepare an opinion on the mat­
ter, under Article 22 of the Rules of Procedure, 
Having regard to the opinion adopted by that Sec­
tion at its 153rd meeting, held on 9 November 1983, 
Having regard to the oral report of the rapporteur, 
Mr Querleux, (Article 29 of the Rules of Procedure), 
Having regard to the discussions at its meeting on 
24 November 1983 (212th plenary session of 23 and 
24 November 1983), 
Whereas in its communication to the Council con­
cerning an action programme in the field of interna­
tional rail cooperation the Commission announced 
concrete measures for implementing such a pro­
gramme ; Whereas this new transport technique should be 
developed because of the numerous advantages it 
offers, 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
unanimously: 
1. General comments 
1.1. The Committee shares the Commission's view 
that, in international goods transport, piggyback 
transport is a multimodal technique which offers a 
number of advantages: 
— for user-loaders: speed and regularity of service 
and transport rates which are freely negotiated 
between themselves and the piggyback transport 
companies within the framework of a market 
economy, 
— for society as a whole: optimal use of existing 
road and rail infrastructures, savings in oil-
based energy and fewer accidents because of 
reduced road traffic, 
Whereas among the measures envisaged, some con­
cern piggyback transport; — for transport workers: combination of the tightly 
monitored labour regulations of the railway 
No C 23/50 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 1. 84 
companies and the no less satisfactory ones 
used for road journeys, which in piggyback 
transport rarely exceed 150 to 200 kilometres. 
1.2. The Committee therefore welcomes the draft 
recommendation to encourage the activity of the 
Interunit company, which groups together railways 
and piggyback companies and whose object is the 
study, coordination and development of piggyback 
goods transport. 
1.3. It would be a good idea for Interunit to con­
tact the relevant national bodies drawing up studies 
on piggyback transport. 
2. Specific comments 
2.1. Article! 
The Committee notes that, as of now: 
— all the railway networks in the Community 
which have established piggyback links will be 
associated with Interunit; to its knowledge, the 
networks of Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg and 
Ireland do not yet employ this technique and 
the United Kingdom is only just starting to 
show an interest in it, 
— almost all the present piggyback companies in 
the Community are members of Interunit, 
— Article 9 of the statutes of Interunit expressly 
stipulates that any national piggyback company 
Done at Brussels, 24 November 1983. or rail network may become an associated mem­
ber of Interunit. 
2.2. Article 2 
The Committee has noted the information that, 
depending on how fast piggyback transport 
develops, Interunit members could, in a second 
phase, move towards coordinated purchasing of 
specialist wagons and pooled management of them. 
This would optimize resource use both from the 
technical and economic point of view and ensure 
that specifications for equipment take into consider­
ation the various restrictions of the Community's 
rail systems to allow 'inter-working', etc. thus fully 
justifying the recommendation in Article 2. 
3. Final considerations 
3.1. Finally, the Committee would recall that, at 
present: 
— the piggyback companies and networks which 
are members of Interunit do not want the com­
pany to have a commercial role in the selling of 
piggyback transport, 
— the fact that a piggyback company does not 
belong to Interunit should not prevent it from 
carrying out piggyback transport. 
3.2. The Committee also shares the Commission's 
view on the compatibility of its proposal with 
Article 85 (1) of the EEC Treaty. 
3.3. For all these reasons, the Committee approves 
the Commission's proposal. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois CEYRAC