Proposal for a Council Regulation adapting Regulation (EC) No 685/2001 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: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, carriage of goods, combined transport, common transport policy, road transport, transit

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.3.2004 
COM(2004) 187 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

adapting Regulation (EC) No 685/2001 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 685/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 April 20011 
as  amended  by  Regulation  No  893/2002  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
27 May  20022  extended  to  Romania  the  rules  governing  the  distribution  of  transit 
authorisations received by the Community under the agreements with Bulgaria and Hungary. 
The  Annex  indicated  the  number  of  authorisations  to  be  used  by  each  Member  State  for 
transiting through Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. 

As  regards  Hungary,  from  the  date  of  accession  of  this  country  to  the  European  Union,  the 
transit  authorisations  will  no  longer  be  necessary  since  relations  between  Hungary  and  the 
current Member States will be governed by Article V of the EC Treaty (transport policy) and 
by secondary law, in particular, Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 regarding freedom of transit.  

As regards Bulgaria and Romania, the number of road transit authorisations given by Bulgaria 
and Romania to the Community remains the same but the allocation of authorisations between 
the Member States must be adjusted to take account of accession.  

The  attached  proposal  for  a  Council  decision  is  a  proposal  for  a  technical  adaptation  of 
Regulation (EC) No 685/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council which provides 
for the distribution of authorisations among Member States received through the Agreements 
establishing  certain  conditions  for  the  carriage  of  goods  by  road  and  the  promotion  of 
combined  transport  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Republic  of  Bulgaria  and 
between the European Community and Romania.  

Article 2(3) of the Treaty of Accession stipulates that the institutions of the European Union 
can, prior to accession, adopt amendments to those acts which require adaptation by reason of 
accession as provided for in Article 57 of the Act of Accession. These measures shall enter 
into force subject to and on the date of entry into force of the Treaty of Accession. 

Article 57(2) of the Act of Accession provides that these adaptations will be adopted by the 
Council acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission. 

The Council is therefore asked to approve the attached Commission proposal. 

1 
2 

OJ L 108, 18.4.2001, p. 1. 
OJ L 142, 31.5.2002, p. 1. 

2 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

adapting Regulation (EC) No 685/2001 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  Slovakia3,  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  Slovakia4,  and  in  particular  Article  57(1) 
thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,5 

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 adopted the original act alone or jointly 
with the European Parliament. 

Regulation  (EC)  No  685/2001  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
4 April  2001  concerning  the  distribution  of  authorisations  among  Member  States 
received  through  the  Agreements  establishing  certain  conditions  for  the  carriage  of 
goods  by  road  and  the  promotion  of  combined  transport  between  the  European 
Community and the Republic of Bulgaria, between the European Community and the 
Republic  of  Hungary  and  between  the  European  Community  and  Romania6  should 
therefore be amended, 

3 
4 
5 
6 

OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 17. 
OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 33. 
OJ C …, …, p. … 
OJ L 108, 18.4.2001, p. 1. Regulation amended by Regulation (EC) No 893/2002 (OJ L 142, 31.5.2002, 
p. 1). 

3 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 685/2001 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

The title shall be replaced by: 

“Regulation  (EC)  No  685/2001  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
4 April  2001  concerning  the  distribution  of  authorisations  among  Member  States 
received  through  the  Agreements  establishing  certain  conditions  for  the  carriage  of 
goods  by  road  and  the  promotion  of  combined  transport  between  the  European 
Community and the Republic of Bulgaria and between the European Community and 
Romania” 

(2) 

Article 1 shall be replaced by the following: 

"Article 1 

This  Regulation  lays  down  the  rules  for  the  distribution  among  Member  States  of 
authorisations  available  to  the  Community  under  Article  6(2)  of  the  Agreements 
between  the  European  Community  and  the  Republic  of  Bulgaria  and  between  the 
European  Community  and  Romania  establishing  certain  conditions  for  the  carriage 
of goods by road and the promotion of combined transport (hereinafter referred to as 
“the Agreements”).” 

(3) 

The Annex shall be replaced by the following: 

4 

 
 
  
 
“Annex 

Authorisations for use in: 

Bulgaria 

Romania 

53 

50 

60 

84 

63 

54 

50 

61 

87 

66 

10 468 

11 457 

50 

52 

50 

52 

63 

53 

211 

50 

324 

57 

100 

69 

386 

50 

64 

429 

52 

57 

53 

50 

52 

50 

52 

64 

54 

227 

50 

359 

55 

104 

70 

296 

50 

87 

442 

52 

57 

54 

Member State 

Belgium 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Germany 

Estonia 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Ireland 

Italy 

Cyprus 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Hungary 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Poland 

Portugal 

Slovenia 

Slovak Republic 

Finland 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

Total 

13 000 

14 000” 

5 

 
 
  
 
Article 2 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  subject  to  and  on  the  date  of  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 

6