Council Regulation (EC) No 11/98 of 11 December 1997 amending Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus
Date: 1997-12-11
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: bus, carriage of passengers, common transport policy, freedom to provide services, international transport, transport licence

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 11/98

of 11 December 1997

amending Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 on common rules for the international
carriage of passengers by coach and bus

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 75 (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas, in accordance with Article 75 (1) (a) of the
Treaty,
the establishment of a common transport
policy entails, inter alia, laying down common rules
applicable to the international carriage of passengers
by road;

(2) Whereas such rules are contained in Council Regula-
tion (EEC) No 684/92 of 16 March 1992 on common
rules for the international carriage of passengers by
coach and bus (4);

(3) Whereas Article 20 of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92
lays down that before 1 July 1995 the Commission
shall report to the Council on the application of the
Regulation and that the Council shall adopt before
1 January 1997, on a proposal from the Commission,
rules on the simplification of procedures including
— in the light of the report’s conclusions — the
abolition of authorizations;

(4) Whereas the definition of the various international
coach and bus services should be simplified and

(1) OJ C 203, 13. 7. 1996, p. 11, and OJ C 107, 5. 4. 1997, p. 3.
(2) OJ C 66, 3. 3. 1997, p. 3.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 28 November 1996
(OJ C 380, 16. 12. 1996, p. 40), Council common position of
14 April 1997 (OJ C 164, 30. 5. 1997, p. 1) and Decision of
the European Parliament of 16 July 1997 (OJ C 286, 22. 9.
1997, p. 85).

(4) OJ L 74, 20. 3. 1992, p. 1.

improved; whereas those may be classed as regular
services,
and occasional
services; whereas, therefore, the concept of shuttle
service can be abolished;

services

regular

special

(5) Whereas a system of market access exempt from
authorization should be introduced for all occasional
services, special regular services and all own-account
transport operations;

(6) Whereas the system of authorization for

regular
services should be maintained, although a degree of
flexibility should be introduced as regards the oper-
ating conditions for such services;

(7) Whereas in order to preserve intermodal competi-
tion,
should after a certain period
no longer have priority in the context of the es-
tablishment of a coach or bus service;

the railways

(8) Whereas,

in order to facilitate the inspection of
the international carriage of
transport operations,
passengers by road for hire or reward should be
subject to a Community licence drawn up in ac-
cordance with a harmonized model and issued under
a swift and efficient administrative procedure;

(9) Whereas certain time limits involved in the pro-
cedure for the issue of authorizations should be made
more flexible;

(10) Whereas Member States must

take the necessary
measures to implement this Regulation, in particular
as
regards effective, proportionate and dissuasive
penalties;

(11) Whereas provision should be made for the Commis-
sion to be assisted by an advisory committee when
adopting measures implementing the Regulation as
regards transport documents;

(12) Whereas an appropriate deadline should be laid
down for introducing the Community licence;

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(13) Whereas the application of this Regulation must be
monitored on the basis of a report to be presented by
the Commission,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 is hereby amended as
follows:

(1) In Article 2:

— the following subparagraph shall be added to
point 1.1: ‘The regular nature of the service shall
not be affected by any adjustment to the service
operating conditions.’,

— paragraph (d) of point 1.2 shall be deleted,

— in point 1.3 the words ‘the use of additional
vehicles and shorter intervals’ shall be deleted,

— point 2 shall be deleted,

— point 3.1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘3.1. Occasional services are services which do
not meet the definition of regular services,
including special regular services and which
are characterized above all by the fact that
they carry groups of passengers assembled
on the initiative of
the customer or the
carrier himself.
The organization of parallel or temporary
services
to existing regular
services and serving the same public as the
latter shall be subject
to authorization in
accordance with the procedure laid down in
Section II.’,

comparable

— point 3.2 shall be deleted,

— in point 3.4, second subparagraph,

the terms
‘after consulting the Member States’ shall be
replaced by ‘in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 16a’,

— point 4 shall be replaced by the following:

‘4. Own-account transport operations

Own-account transport operations are those
carried out for non-commercial and non-pro-
fit-making purposes by a natural or
legal
person, provided that:

— the transport activity is only an ancillary
activity for that natural or legal person,

— the vehicles used are the property of that
natural or
legal person or have been
obtained on deferred terms by them or
have been the subject of a long-term
leasing contract and are driven by a

member of the staff of the natural or legal
person or by the natural person himself.’.

(2) The first indent of Article 3 (1) shall be replaced by

the following:

‘— is authorized in the State of establishment to
undertake carriage by means of regular services
including special regular services or occasional
services by coach and bus,’.

(3) The following Article shall be added:

‘Article 3a

Community licence

1.
In order to carry out international passenger
transport operations by coach and bus, any carrier
meeting the criteria laid down in Article 3 (1) must
hold as Community licence issued by the competent
authorities of the Member State of establishment in
accordance with the model set out in the Annex.

The competent authorities of the Member State
2.
of establishment shall
issue the holder with the
original of the Community licence, which shall be
kept by the carrier, and the number of certified true
copies corresponding to the number of vehicles used
for the international carriage of passengers at the
disposal of the holder of the Community licence,
either in full ownership, or in another form, notably
by virtue of an instalment-purchase contract, a hire
contract or a leasing contract.

3.
The Community licence shall be established in
the name of the carrier and shall be non-transferable.
A certified true copy of the Community licence shall
be carried on the vehicle and shall be presented at
the request of any authorized inspecting officer.

The Community licence shall be issued for a

4.
period of five years which shall be renewable.

The Community licence shall replace the docu-
5.
ment
the
issued by the competent authorities of
Member State of establishment certifying that the
carrier has access to the market for the international
carriage of passengers by road.

6. When an application for a licence is submitted,
and at least every five years thereafter, the competent
the Member State of establishment
authorities of
shall verify whether the carrier meets or continues to
meet the conditions laid down in Article 3 (1).

7. Where the conditions referred to in Article 3 (1)
the
are not met,
Member State of establishment shall refuse to issue
or
renew a Community licence by means of a
reasoned decision.

the competent authorities of

8. Member States shall guarantee the right of the
applicant for, or holder of, a Community licence to
appeal against a decision by the competent author-
ities of the Member State of establishment to refuse
or withdraw this licence.

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9. Member States shall
inform the Commission
no later than 31 January of every year of the number
of carriers holding a Community licence as at
31 December of the previous year and of the number
of certified true copies corresponding to the number
of vehicles in circulation on that date.

10. Member States may decide that
the Com-
munity licence shall also be valid for national trans-
port operations.’.

(4) Article 4 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 4

Access to the market

1. Occasional services as defined in Article 2 (3.1)
shall not require authorization.

2.
Special regular services defined in Article 2 (1.2)
shall not require authorization if they are covered by
a contract concluded between the organizer and the
carrier.

Empty journeys by vehicles in connection with
3.
the transport operations referred to in paragraphs 1
and 2 shall likewise not require authorization.

4.
Regular services as defined in the first subpara-
graph of Article 2 (1.1) and special regular services
not covered by a contract between the organizer and
the carrier shall require authorization in accordance
with Articles 5 to 10.

Arrangements for own-account transport opera-

5.
tions are set out in Article 13.’.

(5) The title of Section II shall be replaced by the title
‘REGULAR SERVICES SUBJECT TO AUTHORIZA-
TION’.

(6) In Article 5:

— in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, the
first sentence shall be replaced by the following:

‘In the case of undertakings associated for the
purpose of operating a regular service, the author-
ization shall be issued in the names of all the
undertakings.’,

— in paragraph 2,

the first
replaced by the following:

sentence shall be

The period of validity of an authorization

‘2.
shall not exceed five years.’,

— paragraph 3 (d) shall be replaced by the fol-

lowing:

‘(d) the stops and the timetable.’,

— in paragraph 4, the terms ‘after consultation of
the Member States’ shall be replaced by ‘in ac-
cordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 16a’,

— paragraph 5 shall be replaced by the following:

‘5.
Authorizations shall entitle their holder(s)
to operate regular services in the territories of all

Member States over which the routes of
service pass.’,

the

— the following paragraph shall be added:

‘6.
The operator of a regular service may use
additional vehicles to deal with temporary and
exceptional situations.

In this case, the carrier must ensure that the fol-
lowing documents are carried on the vehicle:

— a copy of
service,

the authorization of

the regular

— a copy of the contract between the operator of
the regular service and the undertaking pro-
viding the additional vehicles or an equiva-
lent document,

— a certified true copy of

the Community
licence issued to the operator of the regular
service.’.

(7) Article 6 shall be amended as follows:

— paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

Applications for authorization of

‘1.
regular
services shall be submitted to the competent
authorities of the Member State in whose territory
the place of departure is situated, hereinafter
referred to as the “authorizing authority”. The
place of departure shall mean “one of the termini
of the service”.’,

— in paragraph 2, the terms ‘after consultation of
the Member States’ shall be replaced by ‘in ac-
cordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 16a’,

— paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

Persons applying for authorization shall
‘3.
provide any further
information which they
consider relevant or which is requested by the
authorizing authority,
in particular a driving
schedule making it possible to monitor compli-
ance with Community legislation on driving and
rest periods and a copy of
the Community
licence for international carriage of passengers by
road for hire or
in
Article 3a.’.

reward provided for

(8) Article 7 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 7

Authorizing procedure

Authorizations shall be issued in agreement
1.
with the authorities of all
the Member States in
whose territories passengers are picked up or set
down. The authorizing authority shall
forward to
such authorities — as well as to the competent
authorities of Member States whose territories are
crossed without passengers being picked up or set
down — a copy of the application, together with
copies of any other relevant documentation, and its
assessment.

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The competent authorities of

2.
the Member
States whose agreement has been requested shall
notify the authorizing authority of their decision on
the application within two months. This time limit
shall be calculated from the date of receipt of the
request
shown in the
acknowledgement of receipt. If within this period the
the
authorizing authority has
authorities consulted shall be deemed to have given
their agreement and the authorizing authority shall
grant the authorization.

for an opinion which is

received no reply,

The authorities of the Member States whose territ-
ories are crossed without passengers being picked up
or set down may notify the authorizing authority of
their comments within the time limits laid down in
the first subparagraph.

3.
Subject to paragraphs 7 and 8, the authorizing
authority shall take a decision on the application
within four months of the date of submission of the
application by the carrier.

4.

Authorization shall be granted unless:

(a) the applicant

is unable to provide the service
the application with

which is the subject of
equipment directly available to him;

international

(b) in the past the applicant has not complied with
national or
legislation on road
transport, and in particular the conditions and
requirements relating to authorizations for inter-
national
has
or
committed serious breaches of
legislation in
regard to road safety, in particular with regard to
the rules applicable to vehicles and driving and
rest periods for drivers;

passenger

services,

road

(c) in the case of an application for renewal of au-
thorization, the conditions of authorization have
not been complied with;

(d) it is shown that the service in question would
directly compromise the existence of
regular
in cases in
services already authorized, except
which the regular services in question are carried
out by a single carrier or group of carriers only;

(e) it appears that the operation of services covered
by the application is aimed only at the most
lucrative of
the services existing on the links
concerned;

(f) a Member State decides on the basis of a detailed
analysis that
the said service would seriously
affect the viability of a comparable rail service on
sections concerned. Any decision
the direct
pursuant
together with the
reasons therefor, shall be notified to the carriers
affected.

to this provision,

affecting the viability of a comparable rail service
on the direct sections concerned, a Member State
may, with the agreement of
the Commission,
suspend or withdraw the authorization to run the
international bus service after having given six
months’ notice to the carrier.

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

5.
The authorizing authority and the competent
authorities of all the Member States involved in the
procedure to reach the agreement provided for in
paragraph 1 may refuse applications only on the
basis of reasons compatible with this Regulation.

6.
If the procedure for reaching the agreement
referred to in paragraph 1 does not enable the au-
thorizing authority to decide on an application, the
matter may be referred to the Commission within
the time limit of five months calculated from the
date of submission of the application by the carrier.

After consulting the Member States concerned,
7.
the Commission shall within ten weeks take a deci-
sion which shall take effect within thirty days of the
notification of the Member States concerned.

The Commission decision shall continue to
reached

8.
apply until
such time as agreement
between the Member States concerned.

is

9. Having completed the procedure laid down in
this Article, the authorizing authority shall inform all
the authorities referred to in paragraph 1 of its deci-
sion, sending them a copy of any authorization; the
competent authorities of the transit Member States
may indicate that
they do not wish to be so
informed.’

(9) In Article 8 (3), second subparagraph the words ‘of
intervals’ shall be added after the word ‘adjustment’.

(10) Article 9 (4) shall be deleted.

(11) The title of Section III shall be replaced by the title
‘OCCASIONAL SERVICES AND OTHER SERVICES
EXEMPT FROM AUTHORIZATION’.

(12) Article 11 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 11

Journey form

As from 1 January 2000, in the event that an
seriously
existing international bus

service is

The services referred to in Article 4 (1) shall be

1.
carried out under cover of a journey form.

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A carrier operating occasional services shall fill

2.
out a journey form before each journey.

The journey form shall contain at least the fol-

3.
lowing information:

(a) the type of service;

(b) the main itinerary;

(c) the carrier(s) involved.

4.
The books of journey forms shall be supplied
by the competent authorities of the Member State
where the transport undertaking is established or by
bodies appointed by those authorities.

5.
The Commission shall, in accordance with the
procedure provided for in Article 16a, lay down the
model for the journey form and the way in which it
is to be used.’.

(13) In Article 12, first paragraph, the terms ‘of an inter-
national shuttle service with accommodation, or’
shall be deleted.

(14) In Article 13:

— paragraph 2 shall be deleted,

— in paragraph 3, the term ‘after consultation of the
Member States’ shall be replaced by ‘in accor-
dance with the procedure laid down in Article
16a’.

(15) In Article 14:

— the following shall be deleted from the introduc-
‘or a shuttle service’,

tory part of paragraph 1:

— the last indent of paragraph 1 shall be replaced

by the following:

‘— the price of transport.’.

(16) Article 16 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 16

Penalties and mutual assistance

The comptetent authorities of

1.
the Member
State where the carrier is established shall withdraw
the Community licence provided for in Article 3a
where the holder:

the Member State in which the carrier is established
so requests. The authority shall immediately inform
the competent authorities of
the Member State
concerned.

authorization of parallel or

In the case of a serious breach or repeated
3.
minor breaches of road safety regulations,
in par-
ticular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles,
driving and rest periods for drivers and the provision
without
temporary
services, as referred to in Article 2 (1.3), the com-
petent authorities of the Member State of establish-
ment of the carrier who committed the breach may
inter alia withdraw the Community licence or make
temporary and/or partial withdrawals of the certified
true copies of the Community licence.

These penalties shall be determined in accordance
with the seriousness of the breach committed by the
holder of the Community licence and with the total
number of certified true copies that he possesses in
respect of his international trade.

The competent authorities of

4.
the Member
States shall prohibit a carrier from operating on their
territory an international passenger service under this
Regulation if he repeatedly commits serious breaches
of the regulations governing road safety, in particular
with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles and
driving and rest periods for drivers. They shall im-
mediately inform the competent authorities of the
Member State concerned.

5. Member States shall on request provide each
other with any relevant information in their posses-
sion concerning:

— breaches of

this Regulation and of any other
Community rules applicable to the international
coach and bus
carriage
committed in their territory by a carrier from
another Member
penalties
State,
imposed,

of passengers by

and

the

— the penalties imposed on their own carriers in
respect of breaches committed in the territory of
another Member State.’.

(17) The following Article shall be inserted:

— no longer meets the conditions laid down in

Article 3 (1),

‘Article 16a

— has supplied inaccurate information concerning
the data which were required for the issue of the
Community licence.

The authorizing authority shall withdraw an
2.
authorization if
fulfils the
the holder no longer
conditions on the basis of which the authorization
was issued under this Regulation, in particular where

Where the procedure referred to in this Article is to
be followed the Commission shall be assisted by the
advisory committee set up by Council Regulation
(EC) No 12/98 of 11 December 1997, laying down
the conditions under which non-resident carriers
may operate national
transport
services within a Member State (*) and chaired by the
representative of the Commission.

road passenger

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The representative of the Commission shall submit
to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken.
The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft,
within a time limit which the chairman may lay
down according to the urgency of
if
necessary by taking a vote.

the matter,

The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in
addition, each Member State shall have the right to
ask to have its position recorded in the minutes.

The Commission shall take the utmost account of
the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall
inform the committee of the manner in which its
opinion has been taken into account.

(*) OJ No L 4, 8. 1. 1998, p. 10.’.

(18) The second paragraph of Article 19 shall be replaced

by the following:

‘Member States shall adopt measures relating in par-
ticular to the means of carrying out checks and the
system of penalties applicable to infringements of
the provisions of this Regulation, and take all the
measures necessary to ensure that those penalties are
applied. The penalties thus provided for shall be
and dissuasive. Member
effective, proportionate
States
to the
shall notify the relevant measures
Commission within 12 months of the date on which
this Regulation comes into force and shall notify any
subsequent changes as soon as possible. They shall

ensure that all such measures are applied without
discrimination as to the nationality or place of es-
tablishment of the carrier.’

(19) The Annex shall be replaced by that contained in

the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

Before 11 December 1998, the Member States shall, after
consulting the Commission, adopt the measures necessary
for the implementation of this Regulation and notify such
measures to the Commission.

Article 3

No later than 31 December 1999, the Commission shall
report to the European Parliament and the Council on
the results of applying this Regulation.

Article 4

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day fol-
lowing that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the European Communities.

It shall apply from 11 December 1998, except for Article
1 (3), which shall apply from 11 June 1999.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 11 December 1997.

For the Council

The President

M. DELVAUX-STEHRES

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

(a)

(Heavy-duty, blue — dimension DIN A4)

(First page of the licence)

(Text in the official language(s) or one of the official languages of the
Member State issuing the licence)

Distinctive symbol of the Member
State (1) issuing the licence

Designation of the competent
authority or body

LICENCE No. . . .

for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus
for hire or reward

The holder of this licence (2) ................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

is authorized to carry out international carriage of passengers by road for hire or reward in the territory
of the Community pursuant to the conditions laid down by Council Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 of 16
March 1992, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 11/98 and in accordance with the general provisions
of this licence.

Comments: ......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................

This licence is valid from ................................... to .............................................................

Issued in ......................................................, on ............................................................

....................................................... (3)

(1) (B) Belgium, (DK) Denmark, (D) Germany, (GR) Greece, (E) Spain, (F) France, (IRL) Ireland, (I) Italy, (L) Luxembourg,

(NL) Netherlands, (A) Austria, (P) Portugal, (FIN) Finland, (S) Sweden, (UK) United Kingdom.

(2) Full name or business name of the carrier.
(3) Signature and stamp of the competent authority or body issuing the licence.

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General provisions

1. This licence is issued pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 684/92 of 16 March 1992 on common
rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus, as amended by Regulation (EC) No
11/98.

2. This licence is issued by the comptetent authorities of the Member State of establisment of the carrier for

hire or reward who:

— is authorized in the Member State of establishment to undetake carriage by means of regular services,

including special regular services or occasional services by coach and bus,

— satisfies the conditions laid down in accordance with Community rules on admission to the occupa-

tion of road passenger transport operator in national and international transport operations,

— meets legal requirements on road safety as far as the standards for drivers and vehicles are concerned.

3. This licence permits the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus for hire or reward on all

transport links for journeys carried out in the territory of the Community:

— where the place of departure and place of destination are situated in two different Member States, with

or without transit through one or more Member States or third countries,

— from a Member State to a third country and vice versa, with or without transit through one or more

Member States or third countries,

— between third countries crossing the territory of one or more Member States in transit,

and empty journeys in connection with transport operations under the conditions laid down by Regula-
tion (EEC) No 684/92.

In the case of a transport operation from a Member State to a third country and vice versa, Regulation
(EEC) No 684/92, is applicable, for the journey made in the territory of the Member State of picking up
or setting down, once the necessary agreement between the Community and the third country in question
has been concluded.

4. This licence is personal and non-transferable.

5. This licence may be withdrawn by the competent authority of the Member State of issue in particular

where the carrier:

— no longer meets the conditions laid down in Article 3 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 684/92,

— has supplied inaccurate information regarding the data required for the issue or renewal of the licence,

— has committed a serious breach or repeated minor breaches of road safety regulations, in particular
with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles, driving and rest periods for drivers and the provision,
without authorization, of parallel or temporary services as referred to in Article 2 (1.3) of Regulation
(EEC) No 684/92. The competent authorities of the Member State of establishment of the carrier who
committed the breach may, inter alia, withdraw the Community licence or make temporary and/or
partial withdrawals of the certified true copies of the Community licence.

These penalties are determined in accordance with the seriousness of the breach committed by the holder
of the Community licence and with the total number of certified true copies that he possesses in respect
of his international trade.

6. The original of the licence must be kept by the carrier. A certified true copy of the licence must be

carried on the vehicle carrying out an international transport operation.

7. This licence must be presented at the request of any inspecting officer.

8. The holder must, on the territory of each Member State, comply with the laws, regulations and adminis-

trative measures in force in that State, particularly with regard to transport and traffic.

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9.

‘Regular services’ means services which provide for the carriage of passengers at specified intervals along
specified routes, passengers being taken up and set down at predetermined stopping points. Regular
services shall be open to all, subject, where appropriate, to compulsory reservation.

The regular nature of the service shall not be affected by any adjustment to the service operating condi-
tions.

Regular services require authorization.

‘Special regular services’ means regular services which provide for the carriage of specified categories of
passengers, to the exclusion of other passengers, at specified intervals along specified routes, passengers
being taken up and set down at predetermined stopping points.

Special regular services shall include:

(a) the carriage of workers between home and work;

(b) carriage to and from the educational institution for school pupils and students;

(c) the carriage of soldiers and their families between their homes and the area of their barracks.

The fact that a special service may be varied according to the needs of users shall not affect its classifica-
tion as a regular service.

Special regular services do not require authorization if they are covered by a contract between the
organizer and the carrier.

The organization of parallel or temporary services, serving the same public as existing regular services,
requires authorization.

‘Occasional services’ means services which do not fall within the definition of regular services, including
special regular services, and whose main characteristic is that they carry groups constituted on the initi-
ative of a customer or of the carrier himself. The organization of parallel or temporary services comparable
to existing regular services and serving the same public as the latter shall be subject to authorization in
accordance with the procedure with the procedure laid down in Section II of Regulation (EEC) No
684/92. These services shall not cease to be occasional services solely because they are provided at certain
intervals.

Occasional services do not require authorization.’