No C 124/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 5. 90 
tive and incompatibilities removed. For instance the 
letter L is used for marking the package meaning 'Lot' 
in the marking directive and for 'Luxembourg' in this 
proosal. Also the letters EEC are redundant. 
6.4.2. Provision must be made for imported products 
by giving the address of the importer in accordance 
Done at Brussels, 28 March 1990. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The Council Directive has two basic objectives. 
1.1.1. To facilitate mobility. 
The Directive sets out to encourage mobility in those 
professions which fall under it. 
There is a particularly pressing need for more mobility 
in this area of civil aviation as a result of existing 
personnel shortages in the individual countries; this 
could be relieved at Community level. 
The problem is especially acute with regard to pilots 
working for small airlines and air traffic controllers. with Directive 79/112/EEC(1) and making the importer 
responsibile for batch identification. The petfoods 
under 3.2 must be labelled in accordance with the 
animal feedingstuff Directives. 
(!) OJ No L 33, 8. 2. 1979, p. 1. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
1.1.2. To maintain safety standards 
against a background of increased 
mobility. 
Intra-Community mobility must be underpinned by 
certain safety guarantees. This will mean making the 
award of a licence subject to certain minimum skill 
and experience requirements, and will require uniform 
training throughout the Community. 
1.2. The objectives will be achieved via harmonized 
requirements for admission to the professions in ques­
tion and training in the various skills required. These 
requirements and training will need to be based on 
compulsory, Community-wide minimum standards, 
and the consequent allocation of responsibilities at 
Community level will need to be spelt out. Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive on mutual acceptance of personnel licences 
for the exercise of functions in civil aviation (*) 
(90/ C 124/07) 
On 20 December 1989 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 84 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic 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 14 March 1990 in the light of the 
report by Mr Velasco Mancebo. 
At its 275th plenary session (meeting of 28 March 1990) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by a large majority with 5 abstentions. 
(!) OJ No C 10, 16. 1. 1990, p. 12. 1.3. Article 1 of the Commission's draft indicates 
that the proposal will cover flying crew (pilots, flight 
21. 5. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 124/19 
mechanics, stewards and stewardesses), air traffic con­
trol, flight and aeronautical station operations and air­
craft maintenance personnel. 
1.4. Between the date of adoption of the Directive 
and 31 December 1992, the measures will be implement­
ed in two phases as follows. 
1.4.1. First phase: If the Directive is adopted, with 
effect from 1 July 1990 licences will be reciprocally 
accepted by all twelve Member States, provided that 
they at least conform to the International Civil Aviation 
Organization (ICAO) international minimum standards 
and practices as defined in Annex 1 to the convention 
on international civil aviaiton. 
1.4.2. Second phase: Between the above date and 
31 December 1992 the Commission will, in consultation 
with representatives of the professions concerned and 
with the assistance of a committee comprising represen­
tatives of the Member States, submit a draft of the 
proposed measures to the Committee. The draft will 
not only cover standards for the professions specified in 
Annex 1 to the ICAO convention but will also stipulate 
requirements and training for cabin staff, in this case 
with regard to safety procedures. 
If the Commission and the Committee are in agreement, 
the measures will be adopted. If not, the draft will be 
forwarded to the Council for its approval. 
2. Background 
Despite inevitable shifts of emphasis over the years, 
the Economic and Social Committee has maintained a 
consistent line on air transport, arguing that recognition 
of licences should fall within a blueprint for transport 
and be the subject of debate between the various sec­
tions of society. This thinking is reflected in the ESC 
Opinion on civil aviation memorandum No 2 of 
26 September 1985, which states (1). 
2.1. Point 2.4 
'The aim must be a comprehensive air transport 
policy as part of the Community transport policy, 
with should inter alia include ... mutual recognition 
of licences and diplomas ...'. 
2.2. Point 3.8.13 
'Competition policy must take full account of social 
issues. It is therefore requested that a joint commit­
tee of employers and trade unions be set up for the 
civil aviation sector, as has already been done in 
other sectors of transport. 
(!) OJ No C 303, 25. 11. 1985, p. 31. This committee should deal with question such as: 
a) the mutual recognition of licences; 
b) the harmonization of working and training con­
ditions, with a view to social progress; 
c) the effects of proposals at EEC level; 
d) the safeguarding and expansion of jobs; and 
e) studies'. 
3. General comments 
3.1. The Committee broadly endorsed the Directive's 
objectives of mobility and safety and the drawing-
up of minimum professional standards to secure these 
objectives. 
3.2. The Committee also welcomes the decision to 
use, for the purposes of provisional recognition, and 
with effect from the date mentioned, the standards laid 
down in Annex 1 to the ICAO convention. 
3.3. The Committee welcomes the Commission's 
proposal that in the first phase, minimum conditions 
for the issue of licences should be aligned with the 
requirements laid down in the convention of inter­
national civil aviation, whilst in the second phase mini­
mum professional requirements and training will be 
stipulated with regard to training in safety only. 
3.4. However the following points must be taken 
into account. 
3.4.1. Any consultation process should have an 
efficient mechanism for canvassing opinions. These 
vehicles for consultation already exist in the form of 
the joint and consumer advisory committees and the 
Member States' institutional representative bodies . 
Bypassing these institutions or setting up ad hoc con­
sultative bodies could be wasteful and arbitrary. 
4. Specific comments 
4.1. Article 1.1 
In order to preclude misinterpretation this paragraph 
should contain a more detailed definition of the Direc­
tive's scope, particularly with regard to cabin crew. 
No C 124/20 Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 5. 90 
4.2. Article 9.1 
Delete: 'The Commission ... laid down in Article 10.' 
and substitute: 'The Council shall, at the instigation of 
the Commission and having previously obtained the Opinions of the European Parliament and the Economic 
and Social Committee, adopt ...'. 
4.3. Article 10 
Delete Articles 10 (2) and 10 (3). 
Done at Brussels, 28 March 1990. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 84/647/EEC on the use 
of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road (!) 
(90/C 124/08) 
On 28 September 1989 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee 
under Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic 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 14 March 1990 (Rapporteur: 
Mr Marvier). 
At its 275th plenary session (meeting of 28 March 1990), the Economic and Social Committee 
unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 
The Committee broadly approves of the Commission 
proposal, which steeks to harmonize rules on hired 
vehicles in the Community, and believes that the pro­
posal brings us one step closer to a common transport 
policy. 
1. General comments 
1.1. There is a genuine market demand in all econ­
omic sectors for hired goods, be they computers, storage 
facilities, maintenance equipment or vehicles. Indus­
tries, businesses and services are increasingly opting to 
hire rather than purchase such goods, and require their 
lessors to guarantee both the investment and to under­
take to maintain the goods provided, The carriage of 
goods by road is no exception, and users in all countries 
welcome the possibility of hiring trucks. 
1.2. The Commission's present proposal should 
however be examined as part of a global approach to 
transport policy so that we can assess the interaction 
(0 OJNoC296, 24. 11. 1989, p. 7. of various road transport provisions and their social 
consequences. 
1.3. There is no evidence in any of the seven Member 
States which authorize own-account vehicle hiring that 
this has led to an expansion in the own-account market 
to the detriment of professional hauliers. 
1.4. Although professional hauliers are in theory 
already entitled to hire vehicles in all Member States, 
in practice they cannot do so in Member States which 
apply restrictive clauses. It is virtually impossible to run 
a profitable truck hire firm if your only clients are 
professional hauliers, and the imposition of a minimum 
hire period only makes matters worse. Conversely, the 
total freedom enjoyed by semi-trailer hire operators in 
all Member States has led to considerable expansion in 
the field, benefitting professional hauliers as much as, 
if not more than, own-account carriers.