Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles travelling in Switzerland
Date: 1999-01-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Switzerland, commercial vehicle, transit, transport authorisation, weights and measures

C 114/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.4.1999

II

(Preparatory Acts)

COMMISSION

Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles
travelling in Switzerland

(1999/C 114/04)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(1999) 35 final (cid:151) 1999/0022(SYN)

(Submitted by the Commission on 27 January 1999)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

(8) Whereas the allocation of permits should be based on
criteria that take full account of existing transport flows
across the Alpine region;

(9) Whereas that allocation may have to be revised in the light
of new statistical evidence; whereas in carrying out such
revisions, the Commission shall be assisted by a committee,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
189c of
in cooperation with the European
Parliament,

the Treaty,

(1) Whereas by Council Decision the European Community
has concluded an agreement with the Confederation of
Switzerland on the transport of goods and passengers by
rail and road;

(2) Whereas that agreement provides for a system of permits
to circulate on Swiss
that normally

to allow heavy goods vehicles
territory with weights
permitted in that country;

in excess of

(3) Whereas that agreement also provides for a system of
permits for empty and light goods vehicles to circulate
on Swiss territory at reduced charges;

(4) Whereas it is necessary to establish rules governing the
the permits which are

distribution and management of
made available to the Community;

(5) Whereas

for pratical and management

those
permits should be made available to the Member States
by the Commission;

reasons,

Article 1

for

This Regulation lays down the rules
the distribution
between the Member States of permits available to the
Community by virtue of Articles 8 and 40(3)(b) of
the
agreement between the European Community and the Confed-
eration of Switzerland on the
transport of goods and
passengers by rail and road (hereinafter referred to as (cid:145)the
Agreement(cid:146)).

Article 2

For the purpose of this Regulation:

1.

2.

(cid:145)full-weight permit(cid:146) shall mean a permit issued under Article
8 of the Agreement allowing goods to circulate on Swiss
territory at weights up to a maximum of 40 tonnes;

(cid:145)empty permit(cid:146) shall mean a permit issued under Article 40
of the Agreement allowing goods vehicles that are empty or
are transporting light loads, as defined in Annex 11 to the
Agreement, to circulate on Swiss territory at a special tariff,
as laid down in Article 40 of the Agreement.

(6) Whereas,

to that end, an allocation method should be
established; whereas, thereafter, the Member States should
share out the amounts allocated to them among under-
takings in accordance with objective criteria;

Article 3

The Commission shall allocate permits in accordance

1.
with paragraphs 2 to 5.

(7) Whereas, in order to ensure the optimal use of permits, all
unallocated permits should be returned to the Commission
for redistribution;

The full-weight permits shall be allocated in accordance

2.
with Annex I.

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C 114/5

The empty permits shall be allocated in accordance with

3.
Annex II.

The permits for each year shall be allocated before 15

4.
November of the preceding year.

5.
The number of permits allocated for the first year of
implementation of the Agreement shall be adjusted pro rata if
the Agreement has entered into force after 1 January of that
year.

Article 4

Member States shall distribute permits amongst
the under-
takings established in their territory according to objective
and non-discriminatory criteria.

Article 5

Before 15 November each year, Member States shall tranfer to
the Commission those permits for that year which have not
been allocated to undertakings.

The Commission shall allocate those permits in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 7 to one or more
Member States in order to ensure an optimal use of those
permits.

Article 6

The Commission shall carry out a detailed survey before 1
January 2000 in order
to provide accurate statistics on
bilateral and transit traffic flows of heavy goods vehicles in
the Alpine region, notably as regards the origin and destination
of the vehicles and their Member State of registration.

On the basis of the survey, the Commission shall recalculate
the allocations in accordance with the methodology laid down
in Annex III.

more than 5 %, but by at least 500 permits, any amendments
necessary to adapt Annexes I and II shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7.

Article 7

The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee composed of
the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the
representative of the Commission.

to be

the measures

the Commission shall submit

to the
The representative of
Committee a draft of
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 the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by
the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the
case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a
proposal from the Commission. The votes of the represen-
tatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be
weighted in the manner
in that Article. The
Chairman shall not vote.

set out

The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are
in accordance with the opinion of the Committee.

the measures envisaged are not

If
in accordance with the
opinion of the Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the
Commission shall, without delay, submit
to the Council a
proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council
shall act by a qualified majority.

If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of
referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed
measures shall be adopted by the Commission.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on the same day as the
Agreement.

Should the realculation result in an allocation for any Member
State which differs from that set out in Annexes I and II by

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

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Official Journal of the European Communities

27.4.1999

ANNEX I

Scale for allocating full-weight permits

The quantity of full-weight permits as laid down in Article 8 of the Agreement shall be allocated by the Commission to
the Member States as follows:

Full-weight permits available in years

2001 and 2002

2003 and 2004

Member State

Belgium
Denmark
Germany
Greece
Spain
France
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Austria
Portugal
Finland
Sweden
Untid Kongdom

2000

16 609
2 919
88 378
1 882
3 772
38 490
1 963
50 349
3 342
19 477
9 588
1 710
3 035
3 193
5 293

19 930
3 231
107 472
1 966
4 272
46 620
2 065
61 085
3 747
23 428
11 365
1 756
3 372
3 565
6 127

26 571
3 854
145 660
2 134
5 271
62 879
2 269
82 557
4 556
31 329
14 920
1 848
4 047
4 309
7 795

400 000

Total

250 000

300 000

ANNEX II

Scale for allocating empty permits

The quantity of empty permits as laid down in Article 40 of and Annex 11 to the Agreement shall be allocated by the
Commission to the Member States as follows:

Empty permits available annually

Member State

2000-2004

Belgium
Denmark
Germany
Greece
Spain
France
Ireand
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Austria
Portugal
Finland
Sweden
United Kingdom

14 718
2 750
62 788
6 160
1 584
10 714
198
85 448
2 200
22 968
1 760
264
836
550
7 062

Total

220 000

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ANNEX III

Methodology for determining the allocation of permits

The allocation of the permits shall take place on the basis of the following methodology:

Full-weight permits

A basic allocation of 1 500 permits will be made to each Member State.

The remaining permits will be allocated in equal parts on the basis of criteria relating to transit traffic and on the basis
of criteria relating to bilateral traffic.

Bilateral traffic

The allocation will take place on the basis of the shares of heavy vehicles registered in the Member States in bilateral
road transport to and from Switzerland.

Transit traffic

The allocation will take place on the basis of the shares of heavy vehicles registered in the Member States in the total
number of diverted kilometres in north-south trans-Alpine road traffic as a result of the current weight restrictions in
Switzerland.

Diverted mileage will be calculated as the difference between the actual distance of trans-Alpine journeys and the
shortest distance through Switzerland. The mileages through Switzerland will be adjusted to take into account border
delays and road traffic conditions by means of an addition of 60 kilometres.

For those Member States where the above method leads to less than 200 permits, the allocation will be established at a
level of 200 permits.

Empty permits

The empty permits will be allocated on the basis of the shares of vehicles registered in the Member States in the transit
traffic through Switzerland of vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes.

The figures in Annexes I and II are based on the above methodology, available statistics and a number of assumptions
where no statistics were available. The available statistics and the assumptions will be replaced by the results of the
survey when the Commission recalculates Annexes I and II.

Survey

The survey will generate the following data:

The origin and destination and the Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of trans-Alpine
transit traffic by vehicles with a laden weight above 28 tonnes, via the Brenner and the Mt Blanc tunnel.

The origin and destination and the Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of bilateral
traffic by vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes with origin or destination in Switzerland.

The Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of transit traffic journeys by road through
Switzerland of vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes.