COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Ex-post evaluation of Directive 2006/1/EC on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2006/1/EC on the use of vehicles hired without drivers fr the carriage of goods by road
Date: 2017-05-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, carriage of goods, intra-EU transport, road transport, vehicle rental

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 31.5.2017  SWD(2017) 199 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Ex-post evaluation of Directive 2006/1/EC on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council  amending Directive 2006/1/EC on the use of vehicles hired without drivers fr the carriage of goods by road  {COM(2017) 282 final} {SWD(2017) 196 final} {SWD(2017) 197 final} {SWD(2017) 198 final}  
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Directive  2006/1/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the  use  of  vehicles 
hired  without  drivers  for  the  carriage  of  goods  by  road1  (henceforth  "the  Directive")  is  a 
codification  of  Council  Directive  84/647/EEC2  as  amended  by  Council  Directive 
90/398/EEC3.  More  than  25  years  after  its  provisions  have  last  been  changed,  the  Directive 
has been evaluated to see whether it has been effective and efficient in attaining its objectives, 
whether it is still relevant to have an EU level instrument in this area, as well as whether the 
Directive is coherent with other EU policies.  

The evaluation covers the whole EU and, to the extent possible, the period from 1990 to 2014. 
It is supported by an external study carried out for the Commission in 2015-20164 and regular 
contacts  with  stakeholders,  feedback  from  a  public  consultation  and  a  consultation  of  the 
SME panel of the Enterprise Europe Network as well as policy documents of the Commission 
and other relevant literature. 

The  Directive  provides  a  minimum  level  of  liberalisation  as  regards  the  use  of  hired  goods 
vehicles for both national and international transport operations. It requires Member States to 
ensure that their undertakings may use, for the carriage of goods by road, hired vehicles under 
the same conditions as vehicles owned by them as long as the hired vehicles are registered or 
put into circulation in compliance with the laws in their countries. 

There are however two important exceptions: (1) Member States may forbid the use of hired 
goods vehicles with a maximum mass above six tonnes for own account transport operations 
and (2) Member States may forbid the use of hired goods vehicles on their territory if certain 
conditions (listed in Article 2 of the Directive) are not met. One of these conditions is that the 
vehicle has been registered or put into circulation in compliance with the law of the Member 
State where the undertaking hiring it is  established. In  other words, whenever a vehicle has 
been hired in a Member State other than the one where the undertaking hiring it is established, 
then Member States are not obliged to allow its use on their respective territories. 

The  Directive  aims  at  promoting  the  use  of  hired  goods  vehicles  as  this  allows  a  better 
allocation of resources by limiting the wasteful use of factors of production and as it brings an 
element of flexibility to the organisation of transport and thus increases the productivity of the 
undertakings concerned. It is clear that an undertaking should be allowed to use a hired goods 
vehicle in particular if it has only a temporary need for it. Hired goods vehicles can then help 
companies avoid having capital that could be used for other, more productive, purposes tied 
up in large assets such as vehicles. This is particularly attractive for businesses that are credit 
constrained  (such  as  SMEs)  and  it  allows  them  to  better  manage  their  cash  flows.  The 
possibility to hire goods vehicles avoids the purchase of vehicles that are then underutilised. 

The evaluation found that, by providing a legal framework for the use of hired goods vehicles 
in the EU, the Directive gives operators more flexibility to respond to temporary or seasonal 
demand peaks and to replace defective or damaged vehicles. Moreover, it allows operators to 
lower their costs in the range of 1-10%,  depending on the type of operation, the  size of the 
undertaking  and  the  type  of  vehicle  hiring.  These  cost  savings  come  from  several  sources: 
hired  vehicles  are  on  average  4  to  6  years  younger  and  generally  better  maintained  than 
vehicles owned by operators, hence they are on average more reliable and more fuel efficient. 

1   OJ L 33, 4.2.2006, p. 82. 

2   OJ L 335, 22.12.1984, p. 72. 

3   OJ L 202, 31.7.1990, p. 46. 

4   https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/facts-fundings/evaluations/doc/2016-ex-post-evaluation-of-directive-

2006-1-ec-final-report.pdf  

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Moreover,  as  they  comply  with  more  stringent  emission  standards,  they  also  benefit  from 
lower road user charges. In addition, hired goods vehicles are more efficiently used than the 
average  fleet  of  goods  vehicles  which  reduces  their  cost  per  transport  operation.  These 
benefits of hiring have been generally acknowledged in stakeholder interviews, in the public 
consultation and the consultation of the SME panel of the Enterprise Europe Network.  

The  objectives  of  the  Directive  in  terms  of  increasing  the  flexibility  and  productivity  of 
transport undertakings are arguably even more relevant today than they were in 1990, due to 
the  increased  competitive  pressure in  today's  internal  market.  Operators  in  the  road  haulage 
business  face  generally  slim  margins  and  will  be  looking  to  minimise  their  costs,  among 
others by using hired goods vehicles where this is advantageous. 

The  benefits  of  hiring  vehicles  become  most  evident  when  comparing  the  situation  in  EU 
Member States which restrict the use of hired vehicles with the situation in countries where 
the use of hired goods vehicles is more liberalised. Four Member States have been found to 
(still) restrict the use of hired goods vehicles with a maximum mass above six tonnes for own 
account  operations:  Greece,  Italy,  Spain  and  Portugal.  The  share  of  empty  runs  in  own 
account  operations  tends  to  be  higher  there  than  in  more  liberal  EU  Member  States. 
Moreover, the vehicle renting and operational leasing sector in these Member States appears 
to  be  underdeveloped  compared  with  EU  Member  States  without  restrictions.  Usual 
consequences of such underdevelopment are lacking competition and higher prices. 

To  the  extent  that  the  Directive  allows  Member  States  to  restrict  the  use  of  hired  goods 
vehicles  in  some  market  segments  and  if  certain  conditions  are  not  met,  its  effectiveness  in 
achieving its objectives is seriously compromised. Leasing companies found that restrictions 
on the cross-border hiring of goods vehicles prevent them from optimising the utilisation of 
their  fleets  by  shifting  their  vehicles  to  where  they  are  most  needed.  They  therefore  have  a 
negative  impact  on  their  productivity.  Moreover,  restrictions  on  the  use  of  hired  goods 
vehicles also lower the efficiency of the Directive as they increase compliance costs for and 
the  administrative  burden  on  both  transport  operators  and  leasing  companies  and  as  they 
increase  implementation  and  enforcement  costs  for  the  competent  public  authorities.  In  the 
absence of restrictions, these costs have been found to be small and negligible. 

Allowing Member States to restrict the use of hired goods vehicles also goes against the needs 
of the European economy in terms of increasing the flexibility and efficiency of road haulage 
operations and it is not fully compatible with current policy priorities in terms of deepening 
the single market and promoting the use of safer, cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicles.  

Certain discrepancies of the Directive with the provisions in other legislative acts governing 
the road haulage sector (Regulations (EC) No 1071/2009 and (EC) No 1072/2009) have been 
found. None of these discrepancies has however been identified as a major issue in practice.  

In  an  integrated  road  haulage  market,  the  EU  is  considered  to  be  the  most  relevant  level  to 
develop  rules  governing  the  use  of  hired  goods  vehicles.  The  public  consultation  and  the 
stakeholder interviews clearly indicated the desire to have common rules on the use of hired 
goods vehicles across the EU. Respondents found that the possibility of imposing restrictions 
on  the  use  of  hired  goods  vehicles  has  led  to  a  patchwork  of  national  rules  and  to  a 
complicated  legal  framework  which  causes  uncertainty  among  operators.  Reducing  the 
possibility for Member States to impose such restrictions should therefore be considered. 

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