Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator COM(2007) 263 final — 2007/0098 (COD)
Date: 2008-01-16
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: access to a profession, carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, carrier, right of establishment, road transport

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4.11
As regards the Member States' setting-up of effective
veterinary border controls, there should be an overall assess-
ment of the concrete risk of a disease being introduced and the
possible consequences, together with spot checks in order to
deter illegal trading. There should also be better coordination
between veterinary and customs authorities and a more flexible
border control system, with a more risk-based approach so that
attention can be turned rapidly to new risks.

In the interests of public acceptance, among other
4.12
things,
vaccination should be used in connection with
combating disease outbreaks if it can advantageously replace or
supplement the culling of healthy animals. However, as the
Commission points out, vaccination should be carried out in
the light of the concrete situation and be based on recognised

principles and factors, such as the accessibility and effectiveness
of the vaccine, valid tests, international guidelines and possible
trade barriers, cost-effectiveness and the possible risks related to
the use of vaccines. There is also a need for further research and
development in this regard.

Science etc.

4.13
Science, innovation and research are crucial to achieving
the goal of the strategy. It is assumed that research can be incor-
porated into production, advice and controls,
in which there
should be more possibilities for transferring knowledge. This
also applies to the Commission's Research Action Plan.

Brussels, 16 January 2008.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be
complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator

COM(2007) 263 final — 2007/0098 (COD)

(2008/C 151/06)

On 16 July 2007 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 71 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules concerning the
conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 18 December 2007. The rapporteur
was Mr Barbadillo.

At its 441st plenary session, held on 16 and 17 January 2008 (meeting of 16 January), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion unanimously.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1
The EESC is pleased to note that the Commission is in
favour of regulating access to the occupation of road transport
operator by means of a regulation, thus avoiding differences in
the transposal of legislation by the Member States. Adopting
this regulation would mean repealing Directive 96/26/EC.

The new regulation falls

in line with the Action
1.3
Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the Euro-
pean Union, updating the rules on access to the occupation of
road transport operator by introducing electronic registers.

The Committee welcomes this proposal, as it will harmo-
1.2
nise rules on access to the occupation of
road transport
operator and to the road transport market — for both passen-
gers and goods — helping to achieve the aims of the Lisbon
Strategy with clear, simple and enforceable rules, which will lead
to fairer competition.

1.4
The regulation introduces the concept of the ‘transport
manager’ who is the person who continuously and effectively
runs the undertaking and who is required to be more highly
trained. Stricter rules governing the transport manager's links
with the company are also laid down. The EESC would like the
practice of hiring qualifications to be eliminated in cases where
a firm is headed by a natural person who is not suitably quali-
fied.

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1.5
The EESC considers that the regulation should contain
the list of categories, types and degrees of seriousness of infrin-
gements and the frequency of minor infringements leading to
the loss of the good repute required of road transport operators
when these are committed in the pursuit of transport activities
for which they are responsible.

1.6 With regard to the requirement for an operating centre
set out in Article 5c) of the proposal for a regulation, the EESC
calls for clarification of the features that this centre should have
in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises.

1.7
The EESC wishes to draw attention to the requirement
for the undertaking to have a sufficient number of vehicle
parking places as a means of recognising the undertaking's
stable establishment in a given Member State, because this could
prove to be a very onerous requirement, especially for small and
medium-sized enterprises and calls on local authorities to make
a sufficient number of places and/or through the cooperation of
those enterprises in managing joint parking areas.

The Committee considers

1.8
that where self-employed
persons are concerned, a system should be designed enabling
them to prove their
financial standing without having to
provide a bank guarantee, because this would entail a consider-
able expense for companies that are not obliged to file simpli-
fied accounts in the States concerned.

1.9
The EESC welcomes the compulsory training of 140
hours to be undertaken prior to the examination to test profes-
sional competence, and the fact that Member States would have
to accredit
training centres, which will help to ensure that
managers are more highly qualified.

The Committee calls on the Commission to establish a
1.10
common system of penalties for all Member States, which
would apply to infringements of the regulation's provisions.

The EESC welcomes the proposal to set up intercon-
1.11
nected national electronic registers, which should improve
administrative cooperation and make the monitoring of under-
takings operating in more than one Member State more effec-
tive.

2. Introduction

2.1
The proposal for a regulation aims to update current
rules on admission to the occupation of road transport operator
to ensure a more uniform and effective application of
the
requirements for admission to this occupation, establishing
minimum conditions relating to good repute, financial standing
and professional competence.

2.2
The current regulations governing admission to the occu-
pation of transport operator are set out in Council Directive
96/26/EC, of 29 April 1996, establishing minimum conditions
relating to good repute,
financial standing and professional
competence which companies have to satisfy to be authorised
to engage in the occupation of road transport operator, that is
to say to carry out national or international goods or passenger
transport operations. These conditions are the only common
requirements imposed on companies for authorisation to carry
out their activities on the Community road transport market.

The Directive also provides for the mutual recognition of some
of the documents required in order to obtain authorisation.

The

directive's

implementation varies

2.3
considerably
between Member States, however. These disparities in imple-
mentation hamper the operation of the internal road transport
market and damage fair competition, which is why the proposed
amendment takes the form of a regulation.

The most significant new features to be introduced by

2.4
the regulation are:

2.4.1
For individuals who lend their professional competence
to a company, the regulation introduces the concept of ‘trans-
port managers’, who should be those who continuously and
effectively run the transport activities of road transport under-
takings, and these individuals should be clearly identified and
designated to the competent authorities. This will create stricter
rules governing the transport manager's links with the company.
In order to gain accreditation for professional competence, a
compulsory minimum training of 140 hours must be under-
taken prior to the examination which all applicant transport
managers must sit, and training centres and examination centres
will also have to be accredited.

2.4.2
The regulation considers that it should be the responsi-
bility of the Member State of establishment to verify that an
undertaking satisfies at all times the conditions laid down in
this regulation and undertakings are therefore required to be
stably and effectively established in that Member State.

2.4.3
New comparable financial indicators are introduced for
measuring a company's financial standing. These indicators will
be based on the company's annual accounts, using a formula
that enables the company to meet its short-term debts, aban-
doning the current method based on capital and reserves.
Furthermore, companies that so desire will be given the oppor-
tunity to demonstrate their financial standing by means of a
bank guarantee.

The authorities will be obliged to verify that

2.4.4
the
requirements of good repute and financial standing and profes-
sional competence are met and, in the event of non-compliance,
will have to warn the operator. If remedial action is not taken
within a specified period, the authorities will have to impose
administrative sanctions, ranging from withdrawing the compa-
ny's authorisation to disqualifying its transport manager.

2.4.5
So as to facilitate freedom of establishment, a single
model certificate issued in accordance with the provisions of
this regulation should be regarded as sufficient proof by the
Member State of establishment.

2.4.6
The regulation aims to ensure more organised adminis-
trative cooperation between Member States, which would help
to make the monitoring of undertakings operating in several
Member States more effective and to this end, interconnected
electronic registers will be set up to improve the exchange of
information between Member States. In order to ensure the effi-
cient exchange of
it is
proposed that national contact points be designated and that
certain common procedures concerning time limits and the
nature of the minimum information to be forwarded be speci-
fied.

information between Member States,

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2.4.7
The Commission will be authorised a) to draw up a list
of categories, types and degrees of seriousness of infringements
leading to the loss of the requisite good repute of road transport
operators; b) to amend the annex concerning the knowledge to
be taken into consideration for the recognition of professional
competence by the Member States and the annex concerning
the model certificate of professional competence to take account
of
to draw up the list of
maximum infringements entailing the suspension or withdrawal
of the authorisation to pursue the occupation or a declaration
of unsuitability. These measures should be adopted in accord-
ance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for
in Article 5(a) of Decision 1999/468/EC.

technical developments; and c)

3.8
In the EESC's view, it is in the regulation itself that the
Commission should clarify and harmonise a list of categories,
types and degrees of seriousness of
infringements and the
frequency of occurrence beyond which repeated minor infringe-
ments will lead to the loss of the good repute of the managers
and consequently of the companies themselves.

The Committee welcomes making the requirement to
3.9
attend courses before sitting competence exams compulsory,
thus ensuring a higher level of training for applicants, and also
approves of the requirement for training centres to be accre-
dited.

3. General comments

3.1
The proposal for a regulation will help to achieve the
aims of the Lisbon Strategy, since it will make for fairer compe-
tition within the sector and greater transparency for road trans-
port customers. Given the dominant role of road transport in
industry's production and distribution systems and where
people's mobility is concerned, it will boost the EU's competi-
tiveness.

The EESC welcomes the fact that the Commission is
3.2
putting into practice the commitment it gave in the ‘better
lawmaking’ programme, aimed at updating and simplifying the
Community acquis, ensuring that regulations are more closely
harmonised and are more straightforward, enforceable and effec-
tive.

3.3
By introducing electronic registers, the new regulation
adheres to the philosophy underpinning the Action Programme
for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the European Union.

3.4
The Committee is interested to note that the Commission
wishes to regulate admission to the occupation of road trans-
port operator by means of a regulation rather than a directive,
which means that it will be directly applicable by the Member
States, thus denying the Member States greater scope to adopt
their own approach.

3.5
The new regulation introduces a single, generic concept
of the ‘occupation of road transport operator’, including both
the occupation of road passenger transport operator and that of
road haulage transport operator.

3.6
Admission will turn on the new position of ‘transport
manager’, a title that will be conferred on the person who has
previously run the authorised undertaking and who has lent his
or her professional competence to it. This will create stricter
rules governing his or her links with the company.

3.7
There is a need to clarify a number of inconsistencies
concerning the position of ‘transport manager’ with regard to
the focus of his or her activities and the possibility of this
person lending his or her competence to more than one
company at the same time, in order to thwart the current prac-
tice of hiring qualifications. For the future, it would be useful to
self-employed businessmen and
provide better
women wishing to access the profession, which will result in
managers being better qualified and in companies' management
being more independent.

training for

4. Specific comments

The EESC welcomes the introduction of the position of
4.1
‘transport manager’, a term applying to individuals who have
lent their competence to companies authorised to pursue the
occupation of transport operators.

4.2
The Committee calls on the Commission to clarify
whether there will be a single ‘authorisation to pursue the occu-
pation of road transport operator’ or whether this definition is
simply to be used in the regulation and there will subsequently
be two separate certificates — one for passengers and one for
freight.

The EESC welcomes the fact

4.3
the regulation will
apply not only to companies established in the Community
already engaged in the occupation of road transport operator
but also to any other undertaking that wishes to pursue this
occupation.

that

The Committee wishes to draw attention to the exclusion
4.4
from the scope of the regulation — this aspect was previously a
responsibility of the State — of undertakings engaged exclu-
sively in certain road passenger transport services for non-
commercial purposes and which have a main occupation other
than that of road passenger transport operator and which use
vehicles driven by their own employees, because a knowledge of
road transport legislation and of the organisation of the relevant
services is needed in order to undertake this activity effectively.

4.5
The regulation should introduce a new requirement in
addition to those already in place for pursuing the occupation
of road transport operator, to the effect that undertakings must
be effectively and stably established in a Member State, thus
thwarting the phenomenon of ‘letter-box’ companies.

4.6
The fact that the regulation does not prevent Member
States from choosing to impose additional conditions with
which all companies must comply in order to be authorised to
pursue the occupation of road transport operator does not
appear to match the Commission's desire for harmonisation,
with regard to the conditions for meeting the requirement as to
good repute set out in Article 6 of the proposal for a regulation.

4.7
The EESC calls on the Commission to clarify how trans-
port operators should continuously and effectively run the
transport activities of road transport undertakings and at the
same time be allowed to run up to four different undertakings,
with a maximum total fleet of twelve vehicles. This measure
would make it hard to eliminate the current practice of traf-
ficking in documents.

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C 151/19

4.8
The Committee considers that the most useful approach
would be for the regulation to include the list of categories,
types and degrees of seriousness of
infringements and the
frequency of occurrence beyond which repeated minor infringe-
ments will lead to the loss of the transport manager's requisite
good repute and not to leave regulation of these aspects to a
later date.

The EESC welcomes the proposal

that undertakings
4.9
should be stably and effectively established in the Member State
granting them authorisation, as set out in Article 5(a), which
requires undertakings to have an establishment situated in that
Member State with premises in which it keeps its business docu-
ments, but wishes to draw attention to the requirement for the
undertaking to have an operating centre in that Member State
with a sufficient number of vehicle parking places. This require-
ment could prove to be particularly onerous for small and
medium-sized enterprises. The problem could be solved by local
authorities providing a sufficient number of such places and/or
through the cooperation of those enterprises in managing joint
parking areas.

4.10
The Committee sees a contradiction in the fact that on
the one hand the regulation states that Member States will
decide on the conditions for a company's good repute but on
the other states that Member States will decide that a company
meets these conditions if it complies with a range of require-
ments that are set out in the regulation.

4.11
The EESC fails to understand why, in order to meet the
requirement for financial standing, an undertaking should have
to be able at all times to meet its actual and potential commit-
ments in the course of the annual accounting year and considers
the previous requirement for capital and reserves to be more
appropriate. A company will now have to prove its current
assets and to have a quick ratio of 80 % or greater on 31
December.

The Committee considers that where self-employed
4.12
persons are concerned, a system should be designed enabling
them to prove their
financial standing without having to
provide a bank guarantee, because this would entail a consider-
able expense for companies that are not obliged to file simpli-
fied accounts in the States concerned.

4.13
In any event, the aim of the financial standing require-
ment should be that companies authorised to operate provide

Brussels, 16 January 2008.

certain market guarantees, but
should not be to protect
suppliers and creditors, because this would distort the concept
of risk, which is an integral part of any business activity.

4.14
The EESC welcomes the new approach of compulsory
training of 140 hours prior to the examination to test profes-
sional competence and the proposal that the Member States
should accredit the bodies qualified to offer training, because
this will improve business training for the sector.

4.15
The EESC considers the period of five years (previously
at least every 5 years) in which the competent authorities check
that undertakings still fulfil each of the requirements for admis-
sion to the profession to be too long. Nevertheless it welcomes
the fact that in addition to the standard checks, checks will be
carried out on undertakings classed as being at risk.

4.16
The Committee considers it appropriate that, where an
undertaking is deemed to run the risk of no longer satisfying
the requirements for admission, a time limit should be granted
for the undertaking to rectify the situation within a time-limit
not exceeding six months (previously one year).

The EESC welcomes the proposal

for each Member
4.17
State to create a national electronic register of road transport
undertakings and that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure
that these are interconnected throughout the Community by no
later than 31 December 2010 and that administrative coopera-
tion between Member States will be regulated. The Committee
also agrees with the proposal
to regulate the protection of
personal data that are held in the register or which might be
forwarded to third parties.

The EESC welcomes the creation of a system for the
4.18
mutual recognition of qualifications gained by individuals prior
to this regulation's entry into force.

4.19
A common system of sanctions applying to all Member
States for infringements of the provisions of this regulation
needs to be put in place and the sanctions thus provided for
must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

4.20
The EESC is interested to note that every two years the
Commission will, on the basis of national reports, draw up a
report for the attention of the European Parliament and the
Council on the pursuit of the occupation of road transport
operator.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS