Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission - Adaptation to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny
Date: 2007-12-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, carriage of goods, drafting of EU law, power of implementation, road transport, transport statistics

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 6.12.2007 
COM(2007) 778 final 

2007/0269 (COD) 

Adaptation to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 on statistical returns in respect of the 
carriage of goods by road as regards the implementing powers conferred on the 
Commission 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

1.1 

Reform of comitology procedures 

Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise 
of  implementing  powers  conferred  on  the  Commission1  was  amended  by  Council  Decision 
2006/512/EC of 17 July 20062. 

Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC as amended introduces a new regulatory procedure with 
scrutiny for measures of general scope designed to amend non-essential elements of a basic 
instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, 
including  by  deleting  some  of  those  elements  or  by  supplementing  the  instrument  by  the 
addition of new non-essential elements. 

1.2. 

Priority alignment and general alignment 

In a joint declaration3, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed a list 
of basic instruments that it was urgent to adapt to the amended Decision in order to introduce 
the new regulatory procedure with scrutiny (priority alignment). For the regulatory procedure 
with  scrutiny  to  be  applicable  to  the  other  instruments  adopted  under  the  co-decision 
procedure that were already in force at the time Decision 2006/512/EC came into effect, the 
joint  declaration  also  called  for  these  instruments  to  be  adjusted  in  accordance  with  the 
applicable procedures (general alignment).  

The Commission undertook to examine all these instruments with a view to submitting, by the 
end  of  2007,  legislative  proposals  to  adapt  them,  where  necessary,  to  the  new  regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny4. 

1.3.  Method 

As  mentioned  in  the  Commission's  Communication  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council of (…), the Commission has carefully examined all the instruments adopted under the 
codecision  procedure  in  order  to  identify  those  which  permit  the  Commission  to  adopt 
measures of general scope designed to amend non-essential elements of the basic instrument 
in  question.  The  Commission  has  identified  more  than  200  instruments  that  should  be 
adjusted.  

Some  of  these  instruments  come  under  the  Commission's  codification  programme.  Among 
these is Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 of 25 May 1998 on statistical returns in respect 
of  the  carriage  of  goods  by  road5.  Depending  on  how  far  the  codification  process  has 
progressed, adaptation to the new procedure must be effected either by recasting the codified 
proposal or, as in the present case, by a legislative amendment. 

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OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11). 
OJ L 200, 22.07.2006, p. 11. 
OJ C 255, 21.10.2006, p. 1. 
PE 376.314v01-00 – A6-0236/2006 (statement by the Commission annexed to the Parliamentary report)  
OJ  L  163,  06.06.1998,  p.  1.  Regulation  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No 1893/2006  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1). 

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2. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

The purpose of the adaptation is to introduce the new regulatory procedure with scrutiny, as 
provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC as amended.  

In this connection, under Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 the Commission is authorised to adapt 
the  data  collection  characteristics  and  the  contents  of  the  Annexes  and  to  lay  down  the 
minimum precision requirements for the statistical returns transmitted by the Member States 
and  the  implementing  procedures  for  that  Regulation,  including  measures  for  adapting  it  to 
economic  and  technical  progress.  Since  these  measures  of  general  scope  are  designed  to 
amend  non-essential  elements  of  the  Regulation  in  question  or  to  supplement  it  by  the 
addition  of  new  non-essential  elements,  they  must  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the 
regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC. 

Since  the  basic  instrument  is  a  Regulation,  it  must  be  adapted  by  means  of  an  equivalent 
instrument.  

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2007/0269 (COD) 

Adaptation to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 on statistical returns in respect of the 
carriage of goods by road as regards the implementing powers conferred on the 
Commission 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission6 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee7, 

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty8, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

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Regulation  (EC)  No  1172/98  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  25 
May 1998 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road9 provides 
that  certain  measures  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  Council  Decision 
1999/468/EC  of  28  June  1999  laying  down  the  procedures  for  the  exercise  of 
implementing powers conferred on the Commission10. 

Decision 1999/468/EC was amended by Decision 2006/512/EC, which introduced the 
regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  for  measures  of  general  scope  intended  to  amend 
non-essential elements of a basic instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure 
referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, including by deleting some of those elements 
or by supplementing them by the addition of new non-essential elements. 

In accordance with the joint declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and 
the Commission11 on Decision 2006/512/EC, for this new procedure to be applicable 
to instruments adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of 

OJ C [...], [...], p. [...] 
OJ C [...], [...], p. [...] 
OJ C [...], [...], p. [...] 
OJ  L  163,  06.06.1998,  p.  1.  Regulation  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No 1893/2006  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1). 
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11). 
OJ C 255, 21.10.2006, p. 1. 

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the  Treaty  which  are  already  in  force,  those  instruments  must  be  adjusted  in 
accordance with the applicable procedures. 

(4) 

As  regards  Regulation  (EC)  No  1172/98,  power  should  be  conferred  on  the 
Commission  to  adapt  the  data  collection  characteristics  and  the  contents  of  the 
Annexes  and  to  lay  down  the  minimum  precision  requirements  for  the  statistical 
returns  transmitted  by  the  Member  States  and  the  implementing  procedures  for  that 
Regulation,  including  measures  for  adapting  it  to  economic  and  technical  progress. 
Since these measures of general scope are designed to amend non-essential elements 
of the Regulation in question or to supplement it by the addition of new non-essential 
elements,  they  must  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory  procedure  with 
scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC. 

(5) 

Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 must therefore be amended accordingly, 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 is hereby amended as follows: 

(1) 

Article 3(4) is replaced by the following: 

"4.  The  data  collection  characteristics  and  the  contents  of  the  Annexes  shall  be 
adopted  by  the  Commission.  These  measures,  which  amend  non-essential  elements 
of this Regulation, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with 
scrutiny referred to in Article 10(3)." 

(2) 

Article 4 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 4 

Precision of results 

The  methods  for  the  collection  and  processing  of  data  must  be  designed  to  ensure 
that the statistical results transmitted by the Member States meet minimum standards 
of precision, taking account of the structural characteristics of road transport in the 
Member  States.  The  precision  requirements  shall  be  adopted  by  the  Commission. 
These  measures,  which  amend  non-essential  elements  of  this  Regulation,  shall  be 
adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  referred  to  in 
Article 10(3)." 

(3) 

Article 5(2) is replaced by the following: 

" 2. The arrangements for transmitting the data referred to in paragraph 1, including, 
where  appropriate,  the  statistical  tables  based  on  those  data,  shall  be  laid  down  in 
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 10(2).  

(4) 

Article 6 is replaced by the following:  

“Article 6 

Dissemination of results 

The provisions on the dissemination of statistical results in respect of the carriage of 
goods by road, including the structure and content of the results to be disseminated, 
shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 10(2). 

(5) 

Article 9 is amended as follows: 

(a)  The first sentence is replaced by the following:  

The  procedures  for  implementing  this  Regulation,  including  the  measures  for 
adapting  it  to  economic  and  technical  progress,  shall  be  laid  down,  insofar  as  this 
does  not  involve  a  disproportionate  increase  in  costs  for  the  Member  States  and/or 

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the burden on the respondents, in accordance with the procedures specified in Article 
10. 

(b)  The following second and third subparagraphs are added: 

The measures referred to in the first and second indents, which amend non-essential 
elements of this Regulation, including those which supplement it, shall be adopted in 
accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 10(3)." 

The  measures  referred  to  in  the  third  and  fourth  indents  shall  be  adopted  in 
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 10(2): 

(6) 

Article 10 is replaced by the following: 

“Article 10 

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee set up 
by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom12. 

2.  Where  reference  is  made  to  this  paragraph,  Articles  4  and  7  of  Decision 
1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof. 

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three 
months. 

3.  Where  reference  is  made  to  this  paragraph,  Article  5a(1)  to  (4)  and  (5a)  and 
Article 7 of Decision No 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of 
Article 8 thereof." 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47. 

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