WRITTEN QUESTION No. 621/97 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Failure to implement legislation on combined transport
Date: 1997-03-04
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: EU law, Greece, carriage of goods, combined transport, commercial vehicle, intra-EU transport, national law, road transport, tractor, transport licence













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91997E0621

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 621/97 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Failure to implement legislation on combined transport  


Official Journal C 391 , 23/12/1997 P. 0021 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0621/97 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (4 March 1997)Subject: Failure to implement legislation on combined transportCombined transport, to which the EU has devoted so much effort, is the form of transport that promotes the optimum use of goods vehicles. According to a report in the authoritative Greek periodical, Trochoi kai T.I.R. a confused situation has been allowed to develop in Greece through a failure to implement the recent Legislative Decree 431/95 and through the Greek Ministry of Transport's tolerance of utility vehicles for national transport being used for combined transport with Community trailers.The above Decree states that combined transport between Member States of the EU may be carried out by any natural or legal person who fulfills the conditions for pursuing road haulage laid down by Presidential Decrees 57/89 and 294/91 and Regulation 881/92 ((OJ L 95, 9.4.1992, p. 1. )) on the international carriage of goods by road. It is expressly stipulated that the trailer must be covered during towing by the Community authorization required for the towing vehicle.Is the Commission aware of this situation and what representations has it made or will it make to the Greek authorities to implement these provisions forthwith and impose immediate administrative and penal sanctions on anyone in breach of them?Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (25 April 1997)Legislative decree 431/95 relates to the implementation of Greek national law and this matter falls within the responsibilities of the Greek authorities.Council Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 of 26 March 1992 ((OJ L 95, 9.4.1992. )), which is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States concerns international carriage of goods for journeys carried out within the territory of the Community. In this regulation, international transport is defined in terms of the movement of the motor vehicle. Consequently a semi-trailer which arrives unaccompanied in Greece and is then hauled by a tractor to a destination in Greece is to be regarded as national transport in Greece. It is subject to applicable Greek rules if the tractor is registered in Greece and to Community cabotage rules ((Council Regulation (EEC) No 3118/93 of 25 October 1993; OJ L 279, 12.11.1993. )) if the tractor is registered in another Member State. If however the semi-trailer is hauled by a tractor registered in another Member State at the time of its arrival in Greece, then it would be regarded as international transport under Regulation 881/92 and a Community authorization is needed for the tractor.