Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a Member State
Date: 1997-02-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of passengers, common transport policy, freedom to provide services, liberalisation of the market, road cabotage

COMMISSION  OF THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  26.02.1997 
COM(97)72 final 

96/0002  (SYN) 

Amended proposal  for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION  (EO 

laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate 

national road passenger transport services within a Member State 

(presented by the Commission  pursuant to Article  189 a (2) 
of the EC-Treaty) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

At  its  plenary  session  of  27  and  28  November  1996,  the  European  Parliament  approved, 
subject  to  a  number  of  amendments,  the  proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 
laying  down  the  conditions  under  which  non-resident  carriers  may  operate  national  road 
passenger  transport  services  within  a Member  State.1 

The Commission  has accepted  the amendments  concerning: 

-  Recital  5a (new), on  the gradual  approximation  of national  legislation; 

-  Recital  6  concerning 

liberalization  and  phased 
harmonization  of  the  conditions  of  competition,  subject  to  "Union"  being  replaced  by 
"Community"; 

the  general  principle  of 

the 

-  Recital  6a (new)  on  the degree of capacity  utilization  of  vehicles; 

-  Recital  6c (new) concerning  the accessibility  of transport  systems; 

-  Recital  8 on  unifying  the system  applicable  to cabotage  operations  of  regular  services; 

-  Article  1,  first  indent  on  the  place  of  establishment  of  transport  companies,  subject  to 

a  formulation  being  found  which  is compatible  with  Article  58 of the  Treaty; 

-  Article  3 on  excluding  urban  and  suburban  services  from  the  scope  of  the  Regulation 

on  cabotage; 

-  Article  4  concerning  the  deletion  of  the  legal  provisions  applicable  to  cabotage 
operations  carried  out  in  the  course  of  a  regular  international  service,  provided  that 
Article  5(2)  is also  amended  to  introduce  a reference  to the  services  under  Article  3(2). 

Parliament's  objective  in  Amendment  9  concerning  Recital  8  is  to  make  all  cabotage 
operations  in  the  form  of  regular  services  subject  to  the  same  legal  provisions.  For 
this  reason,  Amendment  14  of  Parliament's  Committee  on  Transport  and  Tourism 
proposes  deleting  from  the  Commission  proposal  Article  4,  which  lays  down  the  legal 

OJ No C 60, 29.02.96. 

provisions  applicable  to  cabotage  operations  carried  out  in  the  course  of  an 
international  service.  This makes all cabotage operations under Articles 3(2) and 3(3) 
subject to the same legal provisions, i.e. those contained in Article 5(2), which avoids 
a  situation  whereby  the  legal  provisions  applicable  to  cabotage  operations  under 
Article 3(2) are more favourable  than those applicable to cabotage operations carried 
out for all the other regular services under Article 3(3). 

However,  it  still  remains  possible  to  perform  these  cabotage  operations,  since 
provision  is  made  in  Article  3(2).  It is  therefore  necessary  to  provide  that  the  legal 
provisions  applicable  to  cabotage  operations  performed  in  the  course  of  an 
international  service  are  the  same  as  those  applicable  to  cabotage  operations  under 
Article  3(3)  of  the  Commission  proposal,  i.e.  the  national  legislation  of  the  host 
Member State referred to in Article 5(2). 

The reference to Article 3(3)  in Article 5(2) should therefore  be supplemented  with a 
reference  to  Article  3(2)  which  covers  the  issue  of  cabotage  in  the  course  of  an 
international service. 

-  Article  13  on  the  report  on  the  application  of  the  Regulation  and  the  possible 

submission of a proposal on the basis of the report's conclusions. 

The Commission thus amends its proposal as follows: 

Amended  proposal  for  a 

C O U N C IL  R E G U L A T I ON  (EC) 

laying  d o wn  the  conditions  under  which  non-resident  carriers  may  operate 

national  road  passenger  transport  services  within  a  M e m b er  State 

The  Commission  proposal  in  document  C O M ( 9 5)  729  final  -  SYN  96/00022  is  amended 
as  follows: 

Initial  C o m m i s s i on  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Recital  5a  (new) 

"Whereas  carriers  providing  such  services 
should  be  subject  to  comparable  systems, 
so  as  to  limit  inequality  in  the  conditions  of 
competition  because  of  their  nationality  and 
hence 
country 
establishment. 
of 
promote 
national  legislation:" 

of 
the  gradual 

approximation 

and 

Initial  C o m m i s s i on  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Recital  6 

"Whereas  establishing  the  internal  market 
involves  the  abolition  of  frontier  controls 
intra-
and,  consequently,  an 
Community  traffic;" 

increase 

in 

is  an  area 

Lhe.  European 

Community's 
"Whereas 
internal  market 
free 
the 
for 
movement  of  t>oods.  persons,  services  and 
capital:  whereas  it  is  necessary  to  liberalize 
the  transport  of  persons  by  coach  and  bus. 
in  tandem  with  the  phased  harmonization 
of  the  socio-economic,  fiscal  and  technical 
conditions 
passenger 
governing 
transport  within  the  Member  States:" 

road 

2  OJ  No  C  60,  29.02.96. 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Recital 6a (new) 

"Whereas  from  an  environmental  point  of 
view  it  is  desirable  to  offer  carriers  the 
possibility  of  optimizing  the  degree  of 
capacity  utilization of their vehicles:" 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Recital 6c (new) 

intercity  bus  ami  coach 

"Whereas 
transport 
the  accessibility  of 
systems  and  in  particular  the  accessibility 
of 
services. 
especially  on  routes  across  Europe,  is  one 
of  the  objectives  of  the  common  transport 
policy;" 

Initial  Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Recital 8 

the  provisions  of 

"Whereas 
Member  State  applicable 
transport operations should be  fixed;" 

the  host 
to  cabotage 

the  provisions  of 

"Whereas 
the  host 
to  cabotage 
Member  State  applicable 
transport  operations  should  be  fixed,  so  as 
to ensure that these transport  operations  are 
carried  out  under  an  authorization  system 
and  that the same regulatory  conditions  arc 
applicable to cabotage operations of regular 
services,  and  that  these  operations  are 
carried  out exclusively  in the  host  Member 
State  or  that  thev  are  carried  out  in  the 
course  of  a  regular  international  service  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Council 
Regulation No 684/92;" 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Recital 9 (new) 

"Whereas  urban  carriage  should,  for  the 
present, be excluded  from  the scope  of this 
Regulation,  in  view  of  its  character  as  a 
service in the general  interest:" 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Article 1, first indent 

"Any  carrier  who  operates  road  passenger 
transport services for hire or reward who: 

"Any  carrier  who  operates  road  passenger 
transport services for hire or reward who: 

- 

is  established 
in  a  Member  State, 
hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  "Member 
State  of  establishment",  in  accordance 
with its legislation, and" 

- 

is  established  in  a  Member  State  of  the 
Community,  where  his  central  offices 
and  main  place  of  business  is  located, 
hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  "Member 
State  of  establishment",  in  accordance 
with its legislation, and" 

Initial  Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Article  3 

"With  effect  from  the  date  of  entry  into 
force  of  this  Regulation,  cabotage  transport 
operations  shall  be  authorized 
the 
following  services: 

for 

"With  effect  from  the  date  of  entry  into 
force  of  this  Regulation,  cabotage  transport 
operations  shall  be  authorized 
the 
following  services: 

for 

1. special  regular  services  and  occasional 

1. special  regular  services  and  occasional 

services; 

services; 

2. the 

regular 

defined 

in 
services 
Article  2( 1 ), provided  they  are  performed 
in  the  host 
by  a  carrier  not  resident 
Member  State  in  the  course  of  a  regular 
international  service  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  Council  Regulation 
684/92; 

2. the 

regular 

defined 

in 
services 
Article 2( 1 ), provided  they  are  performed 
by  a  carrier  not  resident 
in  the  host 
Member  State  in  the  course  of  a  regular 
international  service  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  Council  Regulation 
684/92; 

3. the other regular  services." 

3. the other regular  services. 

Regular  urban  and  suburban  services 
shall not be covered  by this  Regulation." 

Initial  Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Article  4 

"1. 

operations  Deleted. 

transport 

Cabotage 
carried  out 
Article 3(2)  shall  be  subject 
authorization  by 
authorities 
State. 

in  accordance  with 
to 
competent 
the  host  Member 

the 

in 

2. 

Applications  for  authorization  may 
be  refused: 

(a) 

that 

if the  competent  authorities  in 
State 
the 
host  Member 
produce  evidence 
the 
regular  service  for  which  the 
application 
perform 
cabotage  operations  has  been 
submitted  would 
directly 
compromise  the  existence  of 

to 

(b) 

regular 
already 
services 
authorized,  except  in cases  in 
which  the  regular  services  in 
question  are  carried  out  only 
by a single carrier or group of 
carriers; 

if the competent authorities in 
the  host  Member  State 
produce  evidence 
that  the 
regular  service  for  which  the 
application 
perform 
cabotage  operations  has  been 
submitted is aimed only at the 
most  lucrative  of  the  services 
existing 
links 
concerned. 

the 

on 

to 

The  fact  that  an  operator  offers 
lower  prices  than  are  offered  by 
other  road  carriers  or  the  fact  that 
is  already 
in  question 
the 
operated by other road carriers may 
not  in  itself  constitute  justification 
for rejecting the application. 

link 

Paragraph  4(a)  of  Article  7  of 
Regulation  684/92 
shall  apply, 
mutatis mutandis,  to  applications 
for  authorization 
cabotage 
operations in the form of the regular 
services 
in 
provided 
Article 3(2). 

for 

of 

Reasons must be given for rejection 
of the application. 

The  competent  authorities  may 
refuse applications only on the basis 
of  reasons  compatible  with  this 
Regulation. 

The  Member  States  shall  guarantee 
carriers  an  opportunity  to  defend 
their 
in  the  event  of 
rejection  of  their  application  for 
authorization. 

interests 

Authorizations shall be issued in the 
name  of  the  transport  undertaking; 
they  may  not  be  transferred  by the 

3. 

4. 

received 

latter to third  parties.  However,  the 
carrier  who  has 
the 
authorization  may, with  the  consent 
of  the  competent  authority  in  the 
host  Member  State,  operate 
the 
service  through  the  subcontractor 
the 
authorized 
international  service  referred  to  in 
Article 2(1.1) of  Regulation 684/92. 
In  this  case,  the  name  and  role  of 
the  subcontractor  shall  be  indicated 
The 
in 
subcontractor  must 
the 
conditions laid down in Article 1. 

authorization. 

provide 

fulfil 

the 

to 

for 

the 

case  of 

undertakings 
In 
associaled 
the  purpose  of 
performing  cabotage  operations  in 
the  form  of  a  regular  service,  the 
cabotage  authorization 
shall  be 
in  the  names  of  all  the 
issued 
undertakings. 
It  shall  be  given  to 
the  undertaking  that  manages  the 
operation  and  copies  shall  be  given 
to  the  others.  The  authorization 
shall  state  the  names  of  all  the 
operators. 

5. 

6. 

The  authorization  shall  be  valid  for 
a  maximum  of  five  years  and,  in 
any  case,  for  not  longer  than  the 
the 
authorization 
international 
the 
framework  of  which  the  cabotage 
operation is carried out. 

to 
service  within 

relating 

take  all  measures 

Save  in the  event  of  force  majeure, 
the  operator  of  a  regular  cabotage 
service  shall, until  the  authorization 
to 
expires, 
guarantee  a  transport  service  that 
fulfils  the  standards  of  continuity, 
the 
regularity  and  capacity  and 
other  conditions  laid  down  by  the 
competent  authority  of  the  host 
Member  State  with  regard  to  the 
route  of  the  service,  the  bus  stops, 
the  timetable  and  the  period  of 
validity  of  the  authorization.  These 
less 
conditions  may 

not 

be 

7. 

8. 

than 

favourable 
the  conditions 
applied  to  regular  transport services 
provided  by resident carriers. 

The authorization  or a certified  true 
copy thereof  must  be kept on board 
the vehicle. 

shall, 

The  Commission 
after 
consulting  the  Member  States,  lay 
down the model  for  applications  for 
authorization of cabotage operations 
in  the  form  of  regular  services,  the 
model  authorization  and  the way  in 
which they are to be used." 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Article 5(2) 

Article 4(2) 

"Save as otherwise provided  in Community  "Save as otherwise provided  in Community 
legislation, cabotage operations which form 
legislation, cabotage operations which  form 
part  of  the  transport  services  provided  for  part  of  the  transport  services  provided  for 
in  Article  3(2)  and  (3)  shall  be  subject  to 
in  Article  3(3)  shall  be  subject  to  the 
existing 
and 
the 
and 
administrative  provisions  in  force  in  the  administrative  provisions  in  force  in  the 
host  Member  State,  regarding  the  capacity  host  Member  State,  regarding  the  capacity 
to  provide  transport  services,  the  routes  to 
to  provide  transport  services,  the  routes  to 
be  operated  and 
the  regularity,  continuity 
and frequency  of services. 

the  regularity,  continuity  be  operated  and 

and frequency  of services. 

regulations 

regulations 

existing 

laws, 

laws, 

Any  compensation 
obligations  must  be  paid 

for  public  service  Any  compensation 

for  public 

to  all 

the  obligations  must  be  paid 

to  all 

service 
the 

I Community operators concerned." 

Community operators concerned." 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Article 6 

Article 7 

Article 8 

Article 9 

Article  10 

Article  11 

Article  12 

Article 5 

Article 6 

Article 7 

Article 8 

Article 9 

Article 10 

Article 11 

10 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Article  13 

Article 12 

to 

report 

the  "The  Commission  shall  report 

the 
"The  Commission  shall 
31 
and  Parliament 
Council  before  31  December  1999  on  the  Council 
in  December  1999  on  the  application  of  this 
application  of  this  Regulation  and, 
impact  of  cabotage  Regulation and, in particular, on the  impact 
particular,  on 
transport  operations  on  national  transport  of cabotage transport operations on national 
markets." 

transport markets." 

to 
before 

the 

Initial Commission  proposal 

Amended  proposal 

Article  14 

Article  15 

Article  13 

Article 14 

The remainder of the text is unchanged. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 

ii 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97) 72  final 

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