WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2371/98 by Francesco BALDARELLI to the Commission. Restructuring of the road haulage industry
Date: 1998-07-27
Institutions: BALDARELLI, European Parliament
Subjects: Italy, State aid, aid for restructuring, carriage of goods, road transport, transport company

C 118/62

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.4.1999

(1999/C 118/075)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2371/98

by Francesco Baldarelli (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Restructuring of the road haulage industry

(27 July 1998)

The Italian Government has given due notification of a law on the restructuring of the road haulage
industry (Law No 454 of 23 December 1997). However, the law in question cannot be applied in practice
unless appropriate regulations are issued. The Italian Government has asked the Commission for its
opinion on these provisions. The pre-litigation procedure was initiated only recently by means of an
official letter from the Commission. Most of the Commission(cid:146)s criticisms can be overcome by making
changes to the regulatory texts.

Considerable efforts are being made by all
the public- and private-sector organizations and the
institutions, which are in favour of reforming the sector, one characterized by serious weaknesses, poor
organization and an inability to cope with the challenges of liberalization and the opening up of markets
(crisis in growth and recession). These efforts, which are aimed at fundamentally restructuring the
industry, can only be beneficial for the sector in Europe as a whole and will prevent dangerous forms of
destructive competition and the migration of hauliers to other countries following the complete liberal-
ization of cabotage. It should be borne in mind that these initiatives form part of a wider political project
which must take account of the difficult situation with which the sector is faced, partly because it suffers
from a number of specific handicaps: it is cut off from the rest of Europe by a chain of mountains and is
forced to adapt to the policies of the countries that have to be crossed, including Switzerland, whose traffic
rules make long detours necessary. The industrial relations climate is gradually deteriorating with the
threat of disruptive action becoming increasingly real. A solution must therefore be found in order to solve
the problems caused by this difficult situation.

In view of the above:

1. Does the Commission not see a need to act quickly and positively to speed up procedures and to check
which provisions of the Italian law cannot be complied with immediately by means of the
implementing decrees (decreti attuativi) which the Italian Government is understood to have drawn
up in response to the changes requested by the Commission?

2.

Is the Commission considering the possibility of speeding up the definition of other legislative
measures that require more radical changes but cannot be dealt with in isolation, and must instead be
seen as component parts of a more radical revision of transport policy, as has been demonstrated by
the Italian Government?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(1 October 1998)

On 30 January 1998, the Italian authorities forwarded to the Commission the text of Law No 454/97,
concerning the restructuring and reorganisation of the road haulage sector.

As the Commission had doubts about the compatibility with the common market of the measures
contained in the above-mentioned Law, it decided, after a preliminary investigation of the case, to open a
formal
the EC Treaty (Commission Decision
No C/21/98) (1). The objective of the procedure is to allow the Italian government and interested parties
to present their comments on the case.

investigation procedure under Article 93(2) of

The formal proceedings will be concluded in due course by a final decision, following the assessment of
Law No 454, the related ministerial decrees of enforcement, and comments received. It is not possible for
the Commission to indicate with legal certainty which provisions of the Law are acceptable before the
final decision is taken. However, the decision mentioned above gives a clear indication of the specific
doubts of the Commission.

(1) OJ C 211, 7.7.1998.