Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the position of the Community on Decision 1/2005 of the Community/Switzerland Inland Transport Committee on the creation of a joint observatory for traffic in the Alpine region
Date: 2005-06-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Alpine Region, Switzerland, agreement (EU), carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, mode of transport

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.06.2005 
COM(2005) 255 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

concerning the position of the Community on Decision 1/2005 of the 
Community/Switzerland Inland Transport Committee on the creation of a joint 
observatory for traffic in the Alpine region 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss  Confederation  on  the 
Carriage  of  Goods  and  Passengers  by  Rail  and  Road1  entered  into  force  on  1  June  2002. 
the 
Article 51  of 
“Community/Switzerland Inland Transport Committee” to be responsible for the management 
and proper application of the Agreement. 

committee  known 

the  Agreement 

established 

joint 

as 

a 

THE TRAFFIC OBSERVATORY 

Article 45 of  the  Agreement requires  a  permanent observatory to be set up to monitor road, 
rail  and  combined  traffic  in  the  Alpine  region.  Paragraph 3  of  the  Article  requires  the 
Contracting Parties to determine the administrative procedures governing the operation of the 
observatory by means of a decision of the Joint Committee. 

To  that  end,  the  Commission  and  Switzerland  have  agreed  that  the  activities  of  the 
observatory are to be directed by the “observatory” working party set up by Decision 1/2003 
of  the  Joint  Committee.  The  working  party  will  implement  the  strategic  objectives  of  the 
observatory  as  decided  by  the  Joint  Committee  and  monitor  the  degree  to  which  the  set 
objectives are attained. The tasks of gathering data and drafting reports are to be entrusted to a 
service provider selected through a tendering procedure in accordance with the rules on public 
contracts. Expenditure associated with the mandate of the outside consultant is to be borne in 
equal measure by Switzerland and the European Community. The working party will examine 
and adopt, by mutual agreement, the reports drafted by the outside consultant. It will submit 
its conclusions to the Joint Committee, which will take the decisions arising therefrom. If a 
report  is  not  approved,  the  working  party  will  inform  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  divergent 
views expressed by its members. 

COMMUNITY POSITION ON DECISION 1/2005 

Article 4  of  Decision  2002/309/EC,  Euratom  of  the  Council,  and  of  the  Commission  as 
regards the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, of 4 April 2002 on the 
conclusion of seven Agreements with the Swiss Confederation stipulates that the position to 
be taken by the Community as regards decisions of the Joint Committee is to be adopted by 
the Council, acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, for the matters 
contained  in  Articles 42,  45,  46,  47  and  54  of  the  Agreement.  Article 45  of  the  Agreement 
concerns the traffic observatory. 

The Council is therefore invited to adopt the attached Decision. 

1 

OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 91. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

concerning the position of the Community on Decision 1/2005 of the 
Community/Switzerland Inland Transport Committee on the creation of a joint 
observatory for traffic in the Alpine region 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  the  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss 
Confederation on the Carriage of Goods and Passengers by Rail and Road, and in particular 
Article 45 thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  Decision  of  the  Council,  and  of  the  Commission  as  regards  the 
Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, of 4 April 2002 on the conclusion of 
seven Agreements with the Swiss Confederation (2002/309/EC, Euratom),2 and in particular 
Article 4 thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

The  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss  Confederation  on 
the Carriage of Goods and Passengers by Rail and Road (hereinafter referred to as “the 
Agreement”) entered into force on 1 June 2002. 

Article 51  of  the  Agreement  established  a  Community/Switzerland  Inland  Transport 
Committee  (Joint  Committee)  to  be  responsible  for  the  management  and  proper 
application of the Agreement. 

Article 45 of the Agreement requires a permanent observatory to be set up to monitor 
road, rail and combined traffic in the Alpine region. Paragraph 3 of the Article requires 
the  Contracting  Parties  to  determine  the  administrative  procedures  governing  the 
operation of the observatory by means of a decision of the Joint Committee. 

The first indent of Article 4(1) of the Decision of the Council, and of the Commission 
as  regards  the  Agreement  on  Scientific  and  Technological  Cooperation,  of  4  April 
2002  on  the  conclusion  of  seven  Agreements  with  the  Swiss  Confederation 
(2002/309/EC, Euratom) provides that the position to be taken by the Community as 
regards  decisions  of  the  Joint  Committee  is  to  be  adopted  by  the  Council,  acting  by 
qualified  majority  on  a  proposal  from  the  Commission,  for  the  matters  contained  in 
Article 45 of the Agreement, 

2 

OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 1. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
                                                 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Sole Article 

The  position  of  the  European  Community  in  the  Community/Switzerland  Inland  Transport 
Committee established by Article 51 of the Agreement between the European Community and 
the  Swiss  Confederation  on  the  Carriage  of  Goods  and  Passengers  by  Rail  and  Road 
concerning the creation of a joint observatory for traffic in the Alpine region shall be based on 
the annex to this Decision. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
 
 
ANNEX 1 

Draft 

DECISION 1/2005 
OF THE 
COMMUNITY/SWITZERLAND INLAND TRANSPORT COMMITTEE 

on the creation of a joint observatory for traffic in the Alpine region 

THE COMMITTEE, 

Having  regard  to  the  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss 
Confederation on the Carriage of Goods and Passengers by Rail and Road, and in particular 
Articles 45 and 51(2) thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Article 45(1)  of  the  Agreement  requires  a  permanent  observatory  to  be  set  up  to 
monitor road, rail and combined traffic in the Alpine region. 

To  that  end,  the  Agreement  requires  the  Contracting  Parties  to  determine  the 
financing  and  the  administrative  procedures  governing  the  operation  of  the 
observatory by means of a decision of the Joint Committee, 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

A  joint  Switzerland/European  Community  observatory  for  the  monitoring  of  traffic  in  the 
Alpine region, hereinafter referred to as “the observatory”, is hereby set up. 

Article 1 

Article 2 

1. 
The observatory shall centralise the statistics from the Community, international and 
national  organisations  relating  to  road  and  rail  traffic  and  accompanied  and  unaccompanied 
combined transport in the Alpine region. It shall report to the Joint Committee annually on the 
trends in this traffic.  

2. 
The observatory shall gather data on infrastructure congestion and on the environment, 
as well as any other statistics requested by the Joint Committee for the proper application of 
its mandate and in accordance with Article 47 of the Agreement on inland transport.  

3. 
The  observatory  shall  provide  decision-making  assistance  to  the  Joint  Committee 
regarding  any  triggering  of  the  unilateral  safeguard  measures  specified  in  Article 46  of  the 
Agreement on inland transport. 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
4. 

The Joint Committee may entrust other tasks to the observatory. 

Article 3 

The  observatory  shall,  as  far  as  possible,  use  existing  statistics  and  statistics 

1. 
established on the basis of Community and Swiss law. 

2. 
As  far  as  possible,  the  observatory  shall  use  the  common  definitions  and  the  data 
encoding  and  transmission  formats  established  for  Community  transport  statistics.  Where 
such  formats  are  unavailable  or  inappropriate,  the  observatory  shall  produce  formats  which 
are as simple and user-friendly as possible. 

All exchanged statistics shall be aggregate data. Pursuant to the applicable legislation 
3. 
of  the  Swiss  Confederation  and  the  European  Community  on  data  protection  and  the 
confidentiality  of  statistics,  they  must  not  enable  individual  transport  companies  to  be 
identified. 

Article 4 

The activities of the observatory shall be directed by the “observatory” working party 

1. 
set up by Decision 1/2003 of the Joint Committee. 

The  working  party  shall  implement  the  strategic  objectives  of  the  observatory  as 
2. 
decided by the Joint Committee and shall monitor the degree to which the set objectives are 
attained. 

The  working  party  shall  include  at  least  one  representative  of  the  Swiss  Federal 
3. 
Statistical Office and one representative of the Swiss Federal Transport Office, as well as two 
representatives  of  the  Commission  of  the  European  Communities,  one  from  the  field  of 
transport and the other from the field of statistics. The members of the working party may be 
assisted at their meetings by representatives of other institutions attending as observers. 

4. 
The tasks of gathering data and drafting reports shall be entrusted to a service provider 
selected in accordance with the rules on public contracts. This contract shall be subject to the 
Community  directives  on  the  public  procurement  procedures  based  on  the  public  contracts 
agreement of 15 April 1994 concluded within the WTO framework. All invitations to tender 
shall be published by Switzerland and by the European Commission. Selection of the service 
provider,  including  the  drafting  of  the  specifications  and  any  award  decision,  shall  be 
performed  jointly  by  the  Contracting  Parties  within  the  “observatory”  working  party.  The 
contract shall be awarded to the tenderer offering the best value for money. The contract with 
the  service  provider  shall  be  governed  by  Swiss  law  and  shall  be  signed  for  the  two 
contracting Parties by the heads of delegation within the Joint Committee. 

5. 
The working party shall examine and adopt, by mutual agreement, the reports drafted 
by  the  service  provider.  It  shall  submit  its  conclusions  to  the  Joint  Committee,  which  shall 
take  the  decisions  arising  therefrom.  If  a  report  is  not  approved,  the  working  party  shall 
inform the Joint Committee of the divergent views expressed by its members. 

To enable the service provider to perform the contract properly, the authorities of the 
6. 
Member  States  of  the  European  Community  and  of  the  Swiss  Confederation  shall  give  it 
access to all the statistical data available to them. 

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
Article 5 

1. 
Expenditure  associated  with  the  performance  of  the  contract  in  accordance  with 
Article 4(4)  shall  be  borne  in  equal  measure  by  Switzerland  and  the  European  Community. 
The budget for the contract shall be no more than €250 000 for the first year and, depending 
on  the  availability  and  quality  of  the  data  to  be  gathered,  no  more  than  €100 000  for 
subsequent years. 

Each  party  shall  bear  any  expenses  it  incurs  in  relation  to  its  participation  in  the 

2. 
meetings of the “observatory” working party. 

Expenditure associated with the material organisation of working party meetings shall 

3. 
normally be borne by the party holding the chair. 

Expert costs arising from a mandate given by an individual party shall be borne by that 

4. 
party. 

This Decision shall enter into force on the first day of the month following its adoption. 

Article 6 

Done at Brussels,  

The Chair 

The Head of the Swiss Delegation 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
ANNEX 2 

FICHE D’IMPACT BUDGETAIRE 

(cf. Article16 des R.I.) 

FICHE  À  UTILISER  DANS  LES  CAS  EXCEPTIONNELS  OÙ  LA COMMISSION  DOIT  PRENDRE  UNE 
DÉCISION INDIVIDUELLE D'ATTRIBUTION 

DOMAINE(S) POLITIQUE(S):  TRANSPORT 

ACTIVITÉ(S):  ACCORD DES TRANSPORT TERRESTRES CE/SUISSE 

DÉNOMINATION DE L’ACTION: 

OBSERVATOIRE DES TRAFICS 

1. 

LIGNE(S) BUDGÉTAIRE(S) CONCERNEE(S) + INTITULÉ(S) 

06020401 

2. 

BASE LEGALE 

Accord  entre  la  Communauté  européenne  et  la  Confédération  suisse  sur  le  transport  de 
marchandises et de voyageurs par rail et par route (JO L 114 du 30.4.2002, p.91). 

3. 

◘ 

DONNÉES CHIFFRÉES GLOBALES DE L'EXERCICE ( EN EUROS ) 

3.a. - Exercice en cours 

de 

initial 

Crédit 
l'exercice 
Budgets 
supplémentaires 
Virements 
Total du crédit 
Consommation au 
Solde disponible 
Montant  de  l'action 
proposée 

CE 

CP 

11.300.000 

8.700.000 

0 

Date : 30/05/2005 

11.300.000 
773.179,37 
10.526.820,30 
125.000 

8.700.000 
1.853.948,85 
6.846.051,15 
125.000 

◘ 

3.b. - Reports à l'exercice 

NA 

◘ 

3.c. - Exercice suivant 

NA 

EN 

8 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
◘ 

3.d. – Exercices suivants (dans le cas des engagements par tranches annuelles) 

(Dans  le  cas  des  programmes  adoptés  par  tranches  annuelles,  il  y  a  lieu  de  répartir  les 
engagements sur toute la durée prévisionnelle des engagements) 

Ligne 
budgétaire 

N 

N+1 

N+2 

N+3 

N+4 

Total 

06020401 

125.000  50.000  50.000 

50.000  50.000

325.000 

4. 

DESCRIPTION DE L'ACTION 

Selon  l’accord  entre  la  Confédération  suisse  et  la  Communauté  européenne  sur  le  trafic 
voyageurs  et  marchandises  par  rail  et  par  route  un  observatoire  du  trafic  marchandises  doit 
être mis en place. Il servira à saisir et à évaluer l’évolution des transports dans la région alpine 
par rail et par route (y compris le trafic combiné). 

A cette fin la Commission et la Suisse sont convenues que les activités de l’observatoire sont 
dirigées  par  le  groupe  de  travail  « observatoire »  institué  par  la  décision  1/2003  du  Comité 
mixte. Le groupe de travail met en œuvre les objectifs stratégiques de l’observatoire définis 
par  le  Comité  mixte  et  contrôle  le  degré  de  réalisation  des  objectifs  fixés.  Les  tâches  de 
collecte des données et de préparation des rapports sont confiées à un prestataire de services 
sélectionné par appel d'offre. Les dépenses liées au mandat du consultant externe sont prises 
en  charge  à  part  égale  par  la  Suisse  et  la  Communauté  européenne.  Le  groupe  de  travail 
examine et adopte, d’un commun accord, les rapports élaborés par le consultant externe. 

5. 

MODE DE CALCUL ADOPTE 

Le  contrat  aura  initialement  une  durée  de  deux  ans  et  est  renouvelable  pour  une  durée 
supplémentaire  de  trois  ans  au  maximum.  La  moitié  du  budget  payable  par  la  CE  de  EUR 
125.000  pour  la  première  année  et  de  EUR  50.000  pour  les  années  suivantes  a  été  fixé  en 
fonction des estimations de travail à effectuer par le prestataire de service. 

6. 

ECHEANCIER DE PAIEMENTS (EN EUROS) 

Ligne 

2005 
2006 
2007 
2008 
2009 
Total 

Montant 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

125.000 
50.000 
50.000 
50.000 
50.000 
325.000 

37.500 

87.500 
15.000 

35.000 
15.000 

35.000 
15.000 

37.500 

102.500 

50.000 

50.000 

Exercices 
ultérieurs 

35.000 
50.000 
85.000 

NB :  Ce  calendrier  de  paiements  n’est  qu’indicatif  étant  donné  que  les  modalités 
contractuelles doivent être encore décidée. 

EN 

9 

   EN