Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways(codification)
Date: 2017-09-29
Institutions: European Commission, Legal service
Subjects: EU statistics, carriage of goods, inland waterway transport, transport statistics

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 29.9.2017  
COM(2017) 545 final/2 

2017/0256 (COD) 

CORRIGENDUM 

This document corrects document COM(2017) 545 final of 26.9.2017. 
Concerns correction of acronym. 
The text shall read as follows : 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways(codification) 

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1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In  the  context  of  a  people’s  Europe,  the  Commission  attaches  great  importance  to 
simplifying  and  clarifying  the  law  of  the  Union  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  more 
accessible  to  citizens,  thus  giving  them  new  opportunities  and  the  chance  to  make 
use of the specific rights it gives them. 

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended 
several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought 
partly  in  the  original  instrument  and  partly  in  later  amending  ones.  Considerable 
research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the 
current rules. 

For  this  reason  a  codification  of  rules  that  have  frequently  been  amended  is  also 
essential if the law is to be clear and transparent. 
On 1 April 1987 the Commission decided1 to instruct its staff that all acts should be 
codified  after  no  more  than  ten  amendments,  stressing  that  this  is  a  minimum 
requirement  and  that  departments  should  endeavour  to  codify  at  even  shorter 
intervals the texts for which they are responsible, to ensure that their provisions are 
clear and readily understandable. 

the  Edinburgh  European  Council 
The  Conclusions  of 
(December 1992) confirmed this2, stressing the importance of codification as it offers 
certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time. 

the  Presidency  of 

Codification  must  be  undertaken  in  full  compliance  with  the  normal  procedure  for 
the adoption of acts of the Union. 

Given  that  no  changes  of  substance  may  be  made  to  the  instruments  affected  by 
codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, 
by  an  interinstitutional  agreement  dated  20 December 1994,  that  an  accelerated 
procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments. 

The  purpose  of  this  proposal  is  to  undertake  a  codification  of  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1365/2006 of the  European  Parliament and  of  the Council  of  6 September 2006 
on  statistics  of  goods  transport  by  inland  waterways  and  repealing  Council 
Directive 80/1119/EEC3.  The  new  Regulation  will  supersede  the  various  acts 
incorporated in it4; this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified 
and hence does no more than bring them together with only such formal amendments 
as are required by the codification exercise itself. 

The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, 
in  24 official  languages,  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 1365/2006  and  the  instruments 
amending it, carried out by the Publications Office of the European Union, by means 
of a data-processing system. Where the Articles have been given new numbers, the 
correlation  between  the  old  and  the  new  numbers  is  shown  in  a  table  set  out  in 
Annex VIII to the codified Regulation. 

1 
2 
3 
4 

COM(87) 868 PV. 
See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions. 
Entered in the legislative programme for 2017. 
See Annex VII to this proposal. 

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(cid:208) 1365/2006 (adapted) 

2017/0256 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways(codification) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  ⌦ on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union ⌫,  and in 
particular Article  ⌦ 338 ⌫ (1) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee5, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Regulation  (EC)  No 1365/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council6  has 
been  substantially  amended  several  times7.  In  the  interests  of  clarity  and  rationality, 
that Regulation should be codified. 

(cid:208)  

(cid:208) 1365/2006 recital 1 (adapted) 

Inland waterways are an important part of the ⌦ Union ⌫ 's transport networks and 
the promotion of inland waterways transport is one of the objectives of the common 
transport policy, both for reasons of economic efficiency and in order to reduce energy 
consumption and the environmental impact of transport. 

(3) 

The  Commission  needs  statistics  concerning  the  transport  of  goods  by  inland 
waterways  in  order  to  monitor  and  develop  the  common  transport  policy,  as  well  as 
the transport elements of policies on the regions and on trans-European networks. 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 recital 2 

5 
6 

7 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on 
statistics  of  goods  transport  by  inland  waterways  and  repealing  Council  Directive 80/1119/EEC 
(OJ L 264, 25.9.2006, p. 1). 
See Annex VII. 

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(4) 

 ⌦ European ⌫  statistics  on  all  modes  of  transport  should  be  collected  according 
to common  concepts  and  standards,  with  the  aim  of  achieving  the  fullest  practicable 
comparability between transport modes. 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 recital 5 (adapted) 

(5) 

Inland  waterways  transport  does  not  occur  in  all  Member  States  and,  therefore,  the 
effect  of  this  Regulation  is  limited  to  those  Member  States  where  this  mode  of 
transport exists. 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 recital 6 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 recital 7 (adapted) 

(6) 

Since  the  objective  of  this  Regulation,  namely  the  creation  of  common  statistical 
standards  that  permit  the  production  of  harmonised  data,  cannot  be  sufficiently 
achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at ⌦ Union ⌫ 
level,  the  ⌦ Union ⌫  may  adopt  measures,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity  as  set  out  in  Article 5  of  the  Treaty  ⌦ on  European  Union ⌫.  In 
accordance  with  the  principle  of  proportionality,  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this 
Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective. 

(7) 

Regulation  (EC)  No 223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council8 
provides a reference framework for the provisions laid down by this Regulation. 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 recital 8 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 recital 5 (adapted) 

(8) 

 In order to take into account economic and technical trends and changes in definitions 
adopted at international level, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 
of the Treaty ⌦ on the Functioning of the European Union ⌫ should be delegated to 
the Commission in respect of amending ⌦ this ⌫ Regulation to raise the threshold 
above 1 000 000 tonnes for statistical coverage of inland waterways transport, to adapt 
definitions  or  provide  for  new  ones,  as  well  as  to  adapt  the  Annexes  to  ⌦ this ⌫ 
Regulationto  reflect  changes  in  coding  and  nomenclature  at  international  level  or  in 
the relevant Union legislative acts. It is of particular importance that the Commission 
carry  out  appropriate  consultations  during  its  preparatory  work,  including  at  expert 
level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid 
down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making9. In 
particular,  to  ensure  equal  participation  in  the  preparation  of  delegated  acts,  the 
European  Parliament  and  the  Council  receive  all  documents  at  the  same  time  as 

8 

9 

Regulation  (EC)  No 223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11 March  2009  on 
European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament 
and  of  the  Council  on  the  transmission  of  data  subject  to  statistical  confidentiality  to  the  Statistical 
Office  of  the  European  Communities,  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 322/97  on  Community  Statistics, 
and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of 
the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164). 
OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1. 

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Member  States’  experts,  and  their  experts  systematically  have  access  to  meetings  of 
Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. 

(9) 

The Commission should ensure that those delegated acts do not impose a significant 
additional burden on the Member States or on the respondents. 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 recital 6 

(10) 

(11) 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 recital 7 (adapted) 

In  order  to  ensure  uniform  conditions  for  the  implementation  of  ⌦ this ⌫ 
Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission enabling it 
to adopt arrangements for transmitting data, including data interchange standards, for 
the  dissemination  of  results  by  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  and  also  to  develop  and 
publish methodological requirements and criteria designed to ensure the quality of the 
data produced. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) 
No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council10. 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 recital 9 

It is necessary for the Commission to arrange for pilot studies to be conducted on the 
availability  of  statistical  data  relating  to  passenger  transport  by  inland  waterways, 
including by cross border transport services. The Union should contribute to the cost 
of carrying out those pilot studies. Such contributions should take the form of grants 
awarded to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities referred to in 
Article 5  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 223/2009,  in  accordance  with  Regulation  (EU, 
Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council11, 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 recital 10 (adapted) 
(cid:208) 1365/2006 (adapted) 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Subject matter 

This  Regulation  establishes  common  rules  for  the  production  of  ⌦ European ⌫  statistics 
concerning inland waterways transport. 

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Regulation  (EU)  No 182/2011  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16 February 2011 
laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of 
the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13). 
Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  No 966/2012  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
25 October 2012  on  the  financial  rules  applicable  to  the  general  budget  of  the  Union  and  repealing 
Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1). 

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Article 2 

Scope 

1.  Member  States  shall  transmit  to  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  data  relating  to inland 
waterways transport on their national territory. 

2.  Member  States  in  which  the  total  volume  of  goods  transported  annually  by  inland 
waterways as national, international or transit transport exceeds 1 000 000 tonnes shall supply 
the data referred to in Article 4(1). 

3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, Member States where there is no international or 
transit inland waterways transport but where the total volume of goods transported annually 
by inland waterways as national transport exceeds 1 000 000 tonnes shall supply only the data 
required under Article 4(2). 

4. This Regulation shall not apply to: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

the carriage of goods by vessels of less than 50 deadweight tonnes; 

vessels used principally for the carriage of passengers; 

vessels used for ferrying purposes; 

vessels used solely for non-commercial purposes by port administrations and public 
authorities; 

vessels used solely for bunkering or storage; 

vessels not used for the carriage of goods such as fishery vessels, dredgers, floating 
workshops, houseboats and pleasure craft. 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.1 

5.  The  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  accordance  with  Article 10 
concerning the amendment of paragraph 2 of this Article to raise the threshold for statistical 
coverage  of  inland  waterways  transport  referred  to  therein  in  order  to  take  account  of 
economic and technical trends. When exercising that power, the Commission shall ensure that 
the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional burden on the Member States or on 
the  respondents.  Furthermore,  the  Commission  shall  duly  justify  the  statistical  actions  for 
which  those  delegated  acts  provide,  using,  where  appropriate,  a  cost-effectiveness  analysis, 
including an assessment of the burden on respondents and of the production costs as referred 
to in Article 14(3)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. 

(cid:208) 425/2007 Art. 1.1 (adapted) 

Article 3 

Definitions 

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply: 

(a) 

(b) 

‘navigable  inland  waterway’  means  a  watercourse,  not  part  of  the  sea,  which  by 
natural  or  man-made  features  is  suitable  for  navigation,  primarily  by  inland 
waterway vessels; 

‘inland waterway vessel’ means a floating craft designed for the carriage of goods or 
public  transport  of  passengers  which  navigates  predominantly  in  navigable  inland 

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waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to sheltered waters or areas where 
port regulations apply; 

‘nationality of the vessel’ means the country ⌦ where ⌫ the vessel is registered; 

‘inland waterways transport’ means any movement of goods and/or passengers using 
inland  waterways  vessels  which  is  undertaken  wholly  or  partly  in  navigable  inland 
waterways; 

‘national inland waterways transport’ means inland waterways transport between two 
ports of a national territory irrespective of the nationality of the vessel; 

‘international  inland  waterways  transport’  means  inland  waterways  transport 
between two ports located in different national territories; 

‘transit  inland  waterways  transport’  means  inland  waterways  transport  through  a 
national  territory  between  two  ports  both  located  in  another  national  territory  or 
national  territories  provided  that  in  the  total  journey  within  the  national  territory 
there is no transshipment; 

‘inland  waterways  traffic’  means  any  movement  of  a  vessel  on  a  given  navigable 
inland waterway. 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

(h) 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.2 (adapted) 

The  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  accordance  with  Article 10 
concerning the amendment of the ⌦ first paragraph of this ⌫ Article to adapt the definitions 
contained  therein  or  provide  for  new  ones  in  order  to  take  into  account  relevant  definitions 
amended or adopted at international level. When exercising that power, the Commission shall 
ensure that the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional burden on the Member 
States  or  on  the  respondents.  Furthermore,  the  Commission  shall  duly  justify  the  statistical 
actions for which those delegated acts provide, using, where appropriate, a cost-effectiveness 
analysis, including an assessment of the burden on respondents and of the production costs as 
referred to inArticle 14(3)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 

Article 4 

Data collection 

1. Data shall be collected in accordance with the tables set out in Annexes I to IV. 

2. In the case referred to in Article 2(3), data shall be collected in accordance with the table 
set out in Annex V. 

3. For the purposes of this Regulation, goods shall be classified in accordance with Annex VI. 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.3 

4.  The  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  accordance  with  Article 10 
concerning the amendment of the Annexes to reflect changes in coding and nomenclature at 
international level or in the relevant Union legislative acts. When exercising that power, the 
Commission shall ensure that the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional burden 
on the Member States or on the respondents. Furthermore, the Commission shall duly justify 

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the  statistical  actions  for  which  those  delegated  acts  provide,  using,  where  appropriate,  a 
cost-effectiveness analysis, including an assessment of the burden on respondents and of the 
production costs as referred to in Article 14(3)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.4 

Article 5 

Pilot studies 

1.  By  8 December  2018,  the  Commission,  in  cooperation  with  the  Member  States,  shall 
develop the appropriate methodology for compiling statistics on passenger transport by inland 
waterways, including by cross-border transport services. 

2. By 8 December 2019, the Commission shall launch voluntary pilot studies to be carried out 
by Member States that provide data within the scope of this Regulation on the availability of 
statistical data relating to passenger transport by inland waterways, including by cross-border 
transport  services.  Those  pilot  studies  shall  aim  to  assess  the  feasibility  of  those  new  data 
collections, the costs of the related data collections and the statistical quality implied. 

3.  By  8 December  2020,  the  Commission  shall  submit  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament 
and to the Council on the results of such pilot studies. Depending on the results of that report, 
and  within  a  reasonable  period,  the  Commission  shall  submit,  if  appropriate,  a  legislative 
proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council to amend this Regulation with regard 
to statistics on passenger transport by inland waterways, including by cross-border transport 
services. 

4.  The  general  budget  of  the  Union  shall,  where  appropriate  and  taking  into  account  the 
Union’s added value, contribute to the financing of those pilot studies. 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 (adapted) 

Article 6 

Transmission of data 

1. The transmission of data shall take place as soon as possible and no later than five months 
after the end of the relevant period of observation. 

2.  The  Commission  shall  adopt  implementing  acts  laying  down  the  arrangements  for 
transmitting data to the Commission (Eurostat), including data interchange standards. Those 
implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to 
in Article 11(2). 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.5 

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(cid:208) 1365/2006 (adapted) 

Article 7 

Dissemination 

 ⌦ European ⌫  statistics  based  on  the  data  referred  to in  Article 4  shall  be  disseminated 
with a frequency similar to that laid down for the transmission of data by the Member States. 

The  Commission  shall  adopt  implementing  acts  laying  down  the  arrangements  for 
disseminating  results.  Those  implementing  acts  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the 
examination procedure referred to in Article 11(2). 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.6 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 

Article 8 

Quality of data 

1.  The  Commission  shall  adopt  implementing  acts  laying  down  the  methodological 
requirements  and  criteria  designed  to  ensure  the  quality  of  the  data  produced.  Those 
implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to 
in Article 11(2). 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.7 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 

2.  Member  States  shall  take  all  measures  necessary  to  ensure  the  quality  of  the  data 
transmitted. 

3. The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of the data transmitted. Member States 
shall supply the Commission (Eurostat) with a report containing such information and data as 
it may request in order to verify the quality of the data transmitted. 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.8 

4.  For  the  purposes  of  this  Regulation,  the  quality  criteria  to  be  applied  to  the  data  to  be 
transmitted are those referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. 

5.  The  Commission  shall  adopt  implementing  acts  laying  down  the  detailed  arrangements, 
structure, periodicity and comparability elements for the quality reports. Those implementing 
acts  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  examination  procedure  referred  to  in 
Article 11(2). 

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(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.9 (adapted) 

Article 9 

Reports on implementation 

By 31 December 2020 and every five years thereafter, the Commission, after consulting the 
European Statistical System Committee, shall submit a report to the European Parliament and 
to the Council on the implementation of this Regulation and on future developments. 

In  that  report,  the  Commission  shall  take  account  of  relevant  information  provided  by 
Member States on potential improvements and on users’ needs. In particular, that report shall 
⌦ assess ⌫: 

(a) 

 the benefits accruing, to the Union, the Member States and the providers and users 
of statistical information, of the statistics produced, in relation to their costs; 

(b) 

 the quality of the data transmitted and the data collection methods used. 

(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.10 

Article 10 

Exercise of the delegation 

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions 
laid down in this Article. 

2.  The  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts  referred  to  in  Article 2(5),  Article 3  and  Article 4(4) 
shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 7 December 2016. The 
Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine 
months  before  the  end  of  the  five-year  period.  The  delegation  of  power  shall  be  tacitly 
extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council 
opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. 

3.  The  delegation  of  power  referred  to  in  Article 2(5),  Article 3  and  Article 4(4)  may  be 
revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall 
put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day 
following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a 
later  date  specified  therein.  It  shall  not  affect  the  validity  of  any  delegated  acts  already  in 
force. 

4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each 
Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement 
of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. 

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the 
European Parliament and to the Council. 

6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 2(5), Article 3 or Article 4(4) shall enter into 
force  only  if  no  objection  has  been  expressed  either  by  the  European  Parliament  or  the 
Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament 
and  the  Council  or  if,  before  the  expiry  of  that  period,  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council  have  both  informed  the  Commission  that  they  will  not  object.  That  period  shall  be 
extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council. 

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(cid:208) 2016/1954 Art. 1.11 

Article 11 

Committee procedure 

1.  The  Commission  shall  be  assisted  by  the  European  Statistical  System  Committee 
established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. That committee shall be a committee within the 
meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. 

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall 
apply. 

(cid:208)  

Article 12 

Repeal 

Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 is repealed. 

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and 
shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex VIII. 

(cid:208) 1365/2006 (adapted) 

Article 13 

Entry into force 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  ⌦ twentieth ⌫   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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