Proposal for a Council Regulation adapting Regulation (EC) No 2888/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council, in the field of transport, by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia
Date: 2004-03-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Switzerland, axle tax, commercial vehicle, common transport policy, road transport, transit

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.3.2004 
COM(2004) 182 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

adapting Regulation (EC) No 2888/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 
in the field of transport, by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, 
Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
  
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Regulation  (EC)  No  2888/2000  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
18 December  2000  on  the  distribution  of  permits  for  heavy  goods  vehicles  travelling  in 
Switzerland1  provides  for  the  allocation  of  the  permits,  which  have  been  attributed  to  the 
Community annually by Switzerland since 2001 and for the last time for the year 2004, to the 
fifteen Member States of the Community. 

Due  to  the  enlargement  of  the  Union  adaptations  to  this  Regulation  are  necessary.  The 
attached proposal for a Council regulation covers these adaptations, which are of a technical 
nature.  They  concern  the  distribution  of  an  additional  quota  of  permits  to  the  new  Member 
States for heavy goods vehicles travelling in Switzerland, which the Swiss Confederation has 
attributed to the Community. The necessary adaptations were not provided for in the Act of 
Accession, in particular in its Annex II. 

The  number  of  permits  allocated  to  each  new  Member  State  for  the  period  1 May 2004  to 
31 December 2004 is equal or higher than currently provided for in the bi-lateral agreements 
between seven of the new member States and the Swiss Confederation. The three remaining 
Member  States  will  receive  their  number  of  permits  calculated  on  the  basis  of  the  transport 
operations  carried  out  in  Switzerland  by  vehicles  registered  in  these  new  Member  States  in 
2002. 

Article  2(3)  of  the  Treaty  of  Accession  enables  the  Council  or  the  Commission  to  adopt 
before accession measures referred to, inter alia, in Article 57 of the Act of Accession. These 
measures shall enter into force only subject to and on the date of the entry into force of this 
Treaty. 

Article 57 of the Act of Accession enables the Council or the Commission to adapt prior to 
accession  those  acts,  which  require  adaptation  by  reason  of  accession,  and  where  the 
necessary  adaptations  have  not  been  provided  for  in  the  Act  of  Accession  or  its  Annexes. 
These adaptations shall enter into force as from accession. 

The Council is invited to adopt the attached Commission proposal. 

1 

OJ L 336, 30.12.2000, p. 9. 

2 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

adapting Regulation (EC) No 2888/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 
in the field of transport, by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, 
Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia,  and  in  particular  Article  2(3) 
thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia,  and  in  particular  Article  57  (1) 
thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission2, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

For  certain  acts  which  remain  valid  beyond  1  May  2004  and  require  adaptation  by 
reason of accession, the necessary adaptations were not provided for in the 2003 Act 
of  Accession,  or  were  provided  for,  but  further  adaptations  are  necessary.  All  these 
adaptations  need  to  be  adopted  before  accession  in  order  to  enter  into  force  as  from 
accession.  

Pursuant to Article 57 (2) of the Act of Accession, such adaptations are to be adopted 
by  the  Council  in  all  cases  where  the  Council  alone  or  jointly  with  the  European 
Parliament adopted the original act. 

Regulation  (EC)  No  2888/2000  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
18 December 2000 on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles travelling 
in Switzerland 3 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

2 
3 

OJ C …, …, p. … 
OJ L 336, 30.12.2000, p. 9. 

3 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

The Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 2888/2000 are replaced by the text in the Annex. 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall enter into force subject to, and as from the date of, the entry into force 
of  the  Treaty  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia,  Lithuania, 
Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President

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ANNEX  

"ANNEX I 

Scale for allocating ‘full-weight’ permits 

The  Commission  shall  allocate  ‘full-weight’  permits  to  the  Member  States  according  to  the 
following scale: 

Member State 

Belgium 

Denmark 

Germany 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Ireland 

Italy 

Luxemburg 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Portugal 

Finland 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

Total: 

% 

6,9 

1,4 

25 

0,9 

2 

15 

0,85 

24 

1,45 

8,9 

8 

0,7 

0,8 

0,75 

3,35 

100 % 

The total number of permits to be allocated will amount to 300 000 for 2001 and 2002 and to 
400 000 for 2003 and 2004. 

5 

 
 
  
 
For  the  period  1  January  2004  to  31  December  2004  the  Commission  shall  allocate  10 000 
additional 'full-weight' permits to the Member States according to the following scale: 

Member State 

Number of permits 

Czech Republic 

Estonia 

Cyprus 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Hungary 

Malta 

Poland 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Total 

3 165 

440 

66 

132 

308 

1 934 

352 

2 110 

1 055 

440 

10 000 " 

6 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX II 

Scale for allocating ‘empty’ permits 

The  Commission  shall  allocate  ‘empty’  permits  to  the  Member  States  according  to  the 
following scale: 

Number of 'empty' permits available annually 

Member State 

2001 - 2004 

Belgium 

Denmark 

Germany 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Ireland 

Italy 

Luxemburg 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Portugal 

Finland 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

Total: 

14 067 

1 310 

50 612 

5 285 

1 500 

16 126 

220 

93 012 

3 130 

21 517 

2 183 

192 

867 

381 

9 598 

220 000 

7 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For  the  period  1  January  2004  to  31  December  2004  the  Commission  shall  allocate  5 500 
additional 'empty' permits to the Member States according to the following scale: 

Member State 

Czech Republic 

Estonia 

Cyprus 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Hungary 

Malta 

Poland 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Total 

Number of permits 

1741 

242 

36 

73 

169 

1 064 

193 

1 160 

580 

242 

5 500 " 

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ANNEX III 

Methodology for determining the allocation of permits 

Allocation of the permits determined in Annexes I and II will take place on the basis of the 
following methodology: 

1. Member States of EU-15 

‘Full-weight’ permits 

Initially, each Member State will receive 1 500 permits. 

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

This result will be adjusted slightly to take account of the specific geographical situation of 
certain Member States. 

Bilateral traffic 

The  allocation  will  take  place  on  the  basis  of  the  shares  of  each  Member  State  in  bilateral 
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 State concerned in the total number of diverted kilometres in north-south and south-
north 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  by  the  addition  of  60  kilometres  to  take  into  account  border 
delays and road traffic conditions. 

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

‘Empty’ permits 

‘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. 

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2. Acceding Member States 

‘Full-weight’ permits 

Member  States  which  have  concluded  bi-lateral  agreements  with  Switzerland  (Czech 
Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia) will receive at least the 
same number of permits as they would have received under the bi-lateral agreements for the 
period  1  May  2004  to  31  December  2004  if  these  agreements  had  remained  in  force 
throughout the whole year 2004. 

Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia are allocated permits on the basis of their shares of transport to 
and from as well as in transit through Switzerland in 2002. 

The rest of the permits available for the ten new Member States will be allocated on a pro-rata 
basis. 

‘Empty’ permits 

Given that the Community will receive 5 500 'empty' permits which amounts to 55% of the 
number of 'full-weight' permits the 'empty' permits will be allocated at this ratio." 

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