Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of common rules for certain types of carriage of goods by road (Codified version)
Date: 2004-02-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, codification of EU law, common transport policy, international transport, road transport

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 02.02.2004 
COM(2004) 47 final 

2004/0017 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the establishment of common rules for certain types of carriage of goods by road 

(Codified version) 

. 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
1. 

2. 

3. 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In  the  context  of  a  people’s  Europe,  the  Commission  attaches  great  importance  to 
simplifying  and  clarifying  Community  law  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  more 
accessible to the ordinary citizen, thus giving him new opportunities and the chance 
to make use of the specific rights it gives him. 

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended 
several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought 
partly  in  the  original  instrument  and  partly  in  later  amending  ones.  Considerable 
research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the 
current rules. 

For  this  reason  a  codification  of  rules  that  have  frequently  been  amended  is  also 
essential if Community law is to be clear and transparent. 

On  1  April  1987  the  Commission  therefore  decided1  to  instruct  its  staff  that  all 
legislative acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments, stressing that 
this  is  a  minimum  requirement  and  that  departments  should  endeavour  to  codify  at 
even  shorter  intervals  the  texts  for  which  they  are  responsible,  to  ensure  that  the 
Community rules are clear and readily understandable. 

The  Conclusions  of 
the  Edinburgh  European  Council 
(December 1992) confirmed this2, stressing the importance of codification as it offers 
certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time. 

the  Presidency  of 

Codification  must  be  undertaken  in  full  compliance  with  the  normal  Community 
legislative procedure. 

Given  that  no  changes  of  substance  may  be  made  to  the  instruments  affected  by 
codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, 
by  an  interinstitutional  agreement  dated  20  December  1994,  that  an  accelerated 
procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments. 

1 
2 

COM(1987) 868 PV. 
See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions. 

2 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
4. 

5. 

The  purpose  of  this  proposal  is  to  undertake  a  codification  of  the  First  Council 
Directive of 23 July 1962 on the establishment of common rules for certain types of 
carriage  of  goods  by  road3.  The  new  Directive  will  supersede  the  various  acts 
incorporated in it4; this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified 
and hence does no more than bring them together with only such formal amendments 
as are required by the codification exercise itself. 

The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, 
in  all  official  languages,  of  the  First  Council  Directive  of  23  July  1962  on  the 
establishment of common rules for certain types of carriage of goods by road and the 
instruments  amending  it,  carried  out  by  the  Office  for  Official  Publications  of  the 
European  Communities,  by  means  of  a  data-processing  system.  Where  the  Articles 
have been given new numbers, the correlation between the old and the new numbers 
is shown in a table contained in Annex III to the codified Directive. 

3 

4 

Carried out pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the 
Council – Codification of the Acquis communautaire, COM(2001) 645 final. 
See Annex II, Part A of this proposal. 

3 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
(cid:208) 881/92 Art. 13, pt. 1 

2004/0017 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the establishment of common rules for certain types of carriage of goods by road 

(Codified version) 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

(cid:208) 62/2005/EEC (adapted) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article ⌦ 71 ⌫ (1) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee5, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions6, 

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty7, 

Whereas: 

(cid:208)  

(1) 

The First Council Directive of 23 July 1962 on the establishment of common rules for 
certain  types  of  carriage  of  goods  by  road8  has  been  substantially  amended  several 
times9. In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified. 

(2)  ⌦ A ⌫ common transport policy involves inter alia laying down common rules for 
the international carriage of goods by road to or from the territory of a Member State 
or passing across the territory of one or more Member States. 

(cid:208) 62/2005/EEC Recital 1 
(adapted) 

5 
6 
7 
8 

9 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ  70,  6.8.1962,  p.  2005/62.  Directive  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EEC)  No  881/92 
(OJ L 95, 9.4.1992, p. 1). 
See Annex II, Part A. 

4 

 
 
  
 
 
 
                                                 
(cid:208) 62/2005/EEC Recital 2 
(adapted) 

(3) 

(4) 

It is necessary to ensure a progressive expansion of the international carriage of goods 
by  road,  bearing  in  mind  developments  in  trade  and  movement  of  goods  within  the 
Community. 

This  Directive  should  be  without  prejudice  to  the  obligations  of  the  Member  States 
relating  to  the  time-limits  for  transposition  into  national  law  and  application  of  the 
Directives set out in Annex II, Part B, 

(cid:208)  

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

(cid:208) 62/2005/EEC 

(cid:208) 881/92 Art. 13, pt. 2 (adapted) 

Article 1 

1. 

2. 

Under  the  conditions  laid  down  in  paragraph  2,  Member  States  shall  liberalise  the 
types  of  international  carriage  of  goods  by  road  for  hire  or  reward  and  on  own 
account listed in Annex ⌦ I ⌫ where such carriage is performed to or from or in 
transit through their territory. 

The  types  of  carriage  and  unladen  journeys  made  in  conjunction  with  the  carriage 
listed in Annex ⌦ I ⌫ shall be exempted from Community authorisation and from 
any carriage authorisation. 

(cid:208) 62/2005/EEC Art. 3 

Article 2 

This  Directive  shall  not  affect  the  conditions  under  which  any  Member  State  authorises  its 
own nationals to engage in the activities mentioned in this Directive. 

(cid:208)  

Article 3 

The First Council Directive of 23 July 1962 on the establishment of common rules for certain 
types  of  carriage  of  goods  by  road,  as  amended  by  the  acts  listed  in  Annex  II,  Part  A,  is 
repealed, without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits 
for  transposition  into  national  law  and  application  of  the  Directives  set  out  in  Annex  II, 
Part B. 

References  to  the  repealed  Directive  shall  be  construed  as  references  to  this  Directive  and 
shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex III. 

5 

 
 
  
 
Article 4 

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

(cid:208) 62/2005/EEC Art. 4 

Article 5 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, […] 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

6 

 
 
  
 
(cid:208) 881/92 Art. 13, pt. 3 (adapted) 

ANNEX I 

Types of carriage to be exempted from any Community authorization and from any 
carriage authorization 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Carriage of mail as a public service. 

Carriage of vehicles which have suffered damage or breakdown. 

Carriage of goods in motor vehicles the permissible laden weight of which, including 
that  of  trailers,  does  not  exceed  six  tonnes  or  the  permissible  payload  of  which, 
including that of trailers, does not exceed 3,5 tonnes. 

4. 

Carriage of goods in motor vehicles provided the following conditions are fulfilled: 

(a) 

(b) 

the  goods  carried  must  be  the  property  of  the  undertaking  or  must  have  been 
sold, bought, let out on hire or hired, produced, extracted, processed or repaired 
by the undertaking; 

the  purpose  of  the  journey  must  be  to  carry  the  goods  to  or  from  the 
undertaking  or  to  move  them,  either  inside  the  undertaking  or  outside  for  its 
own requirements; 

(c)  motor  vehicles  used  for  such  carriage  must  be  driven  by  employees  of  the 

undertaking; 

(d) 

the vehicles carrying the goods must be owned by the undertaking or have been 
bought  by  it  on  deferred  terms  or  hired  provided  that  in  the  latter  case  they 
meet the conditions of ⌦ Directive …/…/EC of the European Parliament and 
of the Council of […] ⌫ on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the 
carriage of goods by road10. 

This provision shall not apply to the use of a replacement vehicle during a short 
breakdown of the vehicle normally used; 

(e) 

carriage  must  be  no  more  than  ancillary  to  the  overall  activities  of  the 
undertaking. 

5. 

Carriage of medicinal products, appliances, equipment and other articles required for 
medical care in emergency relief, in particular for natural disasters. 

_______________ 

10 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 

7 

 
 
  
 
 
                                                 
(cid:207) 

ANNEX II 

Part A 

Repealed Directive with its successive amendments 
(referred to in Article 3) 

First  Council  Directive  of  23  July  1962  on  the 
establishment  of  common  rules  for  certain  types  of 
carriage of goods by road 

(OJ 70, 6.8.1962, p. 2005/62) 

Council Directive 72/426/EEC 

(OJ L 291, 28.12.1972, p. 155) 

Council Directive 74/149/EEC 

(OJ L 84, 28.3.1974, p. 8) 

Council Directive 77/158/EEC 

(OJ L 48, 19.2.1977, p. 30) 

Council Directive 78/175/EEC 

(OJ L 54, 25.2.1978, p. 18) 

Council Directive 80/49/EEC 

(OJ L 18, 24.1.1980, p. 23) 

Council Directive 82/50/EEC 

(OJ L 27, 4.2.1982, p. 22) 

Council Directive 83/572/EEC 

only Article 2 

(OJ L 332, 28.11.1983, p. 33) 

Council Directive 84/647/EEC 

only Article 6 

(OJ L 335, 22.12.1984, p. 72) 

Council Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 

only Article 13 

(OJ L 95, 9.4.1992, p. 1) 

8 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Part B 

List of time-limits for transposition into national law and application 
(referred to in Article 3) 

Directive 

Time-limit for transposition  Date of application 

31 December 1962 

First  Council  Directive  of 
the 
1962 
23 July 
establishment  of  common 
rules  for  certain  types  of 
carriage of goods by road 

on 

72/426/EEC 

74/149/EEC 

77/158/EEC 

78/175/EEC 

80/49/EEC 

82/50/EEC 

83/572/EEC 

84/647/EEC 

1 July 1974 

1 July 1980 

__ 

__ 

1 July 1977 

1 July 1978 

__ 

1 January 1983 

1 January 1984 

30 June 1986 

_____________ 

9 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX III 

CORRELATION TABLE 

First  Council  Directive  of  23  July  1962  on 
the  establishment  of  common  rules  for 
certain types of carriage of goods by road 

This Directive 

Article 1 

Article 2 

Article 3 

__ 

__ 

Article 4 

Annex 

__ 

__ 

__________ 

Article 1 

__ 

Article 2 

Article 3 

Article 4 

Article 5 

Annex I 

Annex II 

Annex III 

10