WRITTEN QUESTION E-0542/02

by Gilles Savary (PSE) to the Commission

(28 February 2002)

Subject: Combined transport and maximum weight of authorised vehicles

Council Directive 96/53/EC(1) laying down for certain road vehicles circulating within the Community the maximum autorised dimensions in national and international traffic and the maximum authorised weights in international traffic only authorises a derogation of 40-44 tonnes for combined transport vehicles with a 40-foot ISO container.

Is the Commission aware that certain Member States interpret this measure restrictively, reserving it, for example, for combined road-rail and road-waterway transport only, thereby excluding combined road-sea transport? How does the Commission envisage remedying this situation?

The Community has made the development of combined transport one of its political priorities, as recently restated in the White Paper on European transport policy for 2010.

Does the Commission therefore intend to amend Directive 96/53 to extend the 44-tonne derogation currently authorised for the combined transport of ISO 40-foot containers to the whole of combined transport? If not, what measures does it envisage proposing to overcome this obstacle, which is jeopardising the development of combined transport, in particular that involving sea transport?

(1) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 59.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(15 April 2002)

The rules concerning the total authorised weight for road vehicles derive from Council Directive 96/53/EC laying down for certain road vehicles circulating within the Community the maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic and the maximum authorised weights in international traffic(1), and the definition of combined transport which appears in Council Directive 92/106/EEC of 7 December 1992 laying down the common rules for certain combined transport operations between Member States(2). This definition explains why, when a seaport is involved, the combined transport concept entails compliance with two conditions at the same time: the sea leg must be in excess of 100 km as the crow flies and the (initial and final) road legs cannot exceed 150 km as the crow flies.

To benefit from the 44 tonne derogation under the Community provisions, an intermodal sea/road transport operation must therefore simultaneously meet the following three conditions:

- sea leg of over 100 km as the crow flies;

- initial and final road leg within a maximum radius of 150 km, as the crow flies;

- use of a 40 foot ISO container and a three-axle motor vehicle with semi trailer with two or three axles, complying with the maximum authorised weight per axle (as indicated in Annex I (point 3) of Directive 96/53/EC).

All the Member States have incorporated the two directives into their national law. According to the information available to the Commission, France is correctly applying the rules laid down by Community law, and there is therefore no reason for the Commission to intervene.

However, pursuant to Directive 96/53/EC, Member States may allow the movement on their territory of vehicles with weights and dimensions departing from those provided for in the directive. Accordingly, certain Member States have gone beyond the measures required on this particular point. However, the measures in question cannot be laid down by the Commission.

On 10 July 1998, the Commission proposed(3) amending Directives 92/106/EEC and 96/53/EC. Parliament has adopted amendments deleting two very importance measures, namely the permanent derogation from banning week-end movements and the generalisation of the authorisation of 44 tonnes for any type of combined transport. Accordingly, the proposal would become much less worthwhile. The Commission therefore withdrew it(4).

Although the 44 tonne rule may be of interest for certain types of intermodal transport, it is difficult to measure its positive impact on the development of combined transport. Accordingly, it seems a matter of priority to address the structural problems slowing down the development of intermodal transport. The Marco Polo programme, and in particular its catalysing actions and those intended to build shared knowledge should make it possible to determine the best ways of achieving this objective.

(1) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996.

(2) OJ L 368, 17.12.1992.

(3) Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 92/106/EEC and proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 96/53/EC, OJ C 261, 19.8.1998.

(4) COM(2001) 763 final.