OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on common rules applicable to the transport of goods or passengers by inland waterway between Member States with a view to establishing freedom to provide such transport services
Date: 1995-09-13
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, freedom to provide services, inland waterway shipping, intra-EU transport













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51995AC0966

OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on common rules applicable to the transport of goods or passengers by inland waterway between Member States with a view to establishing freedom to provide such transport services  


Official Journal C 301 , 13/11/1995 P. 0019 





Opinion on  the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on common rules applicable to the transport of goods or  passengers by inland waterway between Member States with a view to establishing freedom to provide  such transport services ()(95/C 301/05)On 6  June 1995 the Council decided to consult the  Economic and Social Committee, under Article  75 of the Treaty establishing the European Community,  on the above-mentioned proposal. The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's  work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 10  July 1995. The Rapporteur was Mr  Whitworth. At its 328th Plenary Session (meeting of 13  September 1995), the Economic and Social Committee  unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 1. The proposed Regulation1.1. The proposed Regulation has a specific and limited  purpose - that is to affirm that a Community-based operator should be allowed to transport goods or  passengers by inland waterway between Member States without discrimination on grounds of  nationality or place of establishment. 1.2. This accords with a Court of Justice decision dating from 1985, pursuant to Article  75(1)(a)  of the Treaty, obliging the Council to adopt rules governing such access to the inland waterway  market. 1.3. Heretofore the Commission did not deem it necessary to propose such a Regulation as such  freedom to provide services existed de facto even before the Treaty. However, bilateral agreements  between Austria and two other Member States which pre-date that country's accession contain  provisions which are incompatible with the freedom to provide services in this area. It will be  necessary for the Member States concerned to modify these agreements in order to comply with the  Regulation. 2. General comments2.1. The Section has no option other than to approve the proposed Regulation,  as not only is it necessary to comply with the Court of Justice decision but it is also consistent  with the principle of freedom to provide services which the Committee has supported in numerous  Opinions dealing with other transport modes. 2.2. The impact of the Regulation on the 'Tour de Rôle' system which applies in the Netherlands,  France and Belgium can be considered by the Committee in its forthcoming Opinion on the Commission  Communication on a common policy on the organization of the inland waterway transport market and  supporting measures (COM(95) 199 final). Done at Brussels, 13 September 1995. The Presidentof the Economic and Social CommitteeCarlos FERRER() OJ No C  164, 30. 6. 1995, p. 9.