WRITTEN QUESTION No. 936/98 by Florus WIJSENBEEK to the Commission. Court proceedings in other countries
Date: 1998-03-30
Institutions: European Parliament, WIJSENBEEK
Subjects: EU national, carrier, extra-territoriality, intra-EU transport, national law, offence, rest period, road transport, transport regulations, working time













EUR-Lex - 91998E0936 - EN






Avis juridique important




|



91998E0936

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 936/98 by Florus WIJSENBEEK to the Commission. Court proceedings in other countries  


Official Journal C 386 , 11/12/1998 P. 0058 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0936/98by Florus Wijsenbeek (ELDR) to the Commission(30 March 1998)Subject: Court proceedings in other countriesDoes the Commission not agree that in principle infringements of the European rules in respect of Regulations 3820/85(1) and 3821/85(2) can be prosecuted in any Member State of the EU?Is it the Commission's opinion that there should be an obligation on Member States that those of their subjects who infringe the rules outside their own territory can be prosecuted in their own country, so that the operational checks prescribed in Directive 88/599(3) can extend to include infringement of the rules committed in other countries?Can the Commission give a list of those Member States which have given extraterritorial effect to their national legislation on driving time and hours of rest, and those which have not?When regulations 3820/85 and 3821/85 are revised, can the Commission take legislative action to ensure that Member States give extraterritorial effect to them?Is the Commission prepared to take initiatives so that the system of guarantees and towing away of vehicles in third countries is not applied to subjects of Member States which have given extraterritorial effect to their legislation?If so, how? If not, why not?Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission(29 May 1998)Under Regulations 3820/85(4) and 3821/85(5) on social conditions and recording equipment in road transport, offences against common rules on driving times and rest periods are punishable in all Member States.The Commission agrees that enforcement of the regulations could be improved if Member States provided for the prosecution of nationals for offences committed in another Member State. However, under the current Community legislation, only Member States are legally competent to make such a decision.The Commission has information on most but not all of the Member States' arrangements concerning the extra-territorial effect of the above-mentioned national implementation measures, and intends to secure complete details in the near future. The available information indicates that Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland have taken the power to sanction, to a certain extent, their nationals for breaches committed abroad. Under current Community law, the Commission cannot compel Member States that do not adopt an extra-territorial jurisdiction over their nationals to do so. In such cases, once a road transport driver enters another Member State he is subject to the jurisdiction of that Member State.In the context of a possible modification of the common rules, the idea of obliging all Member States to give extra-territorial effect to their legislation will be examined by the Commission. It is, however, obvious that prosecution both abroad and at home for the same offence should be avoided.(1) OJ L 370, 31.12.1985, p. 1.(2) OJ L 370, 31.12.1985, p. 8.(3) OJ L 325, 29.11.1988, p. 55.(4) OJ L 370, 31.12.1985.(5) OJ L 370, 31.12.1985.