REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) Nº 70/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road
Date: 2020-12-08
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EFTA countries, EU Member State, EU statistics, carriage of goods, data collection, dissemination of EU information, large vehicle, road transport, statistical method, transport statistics

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.12.2020  COM(2020) 785 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) Nº 70/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

1.1. 

AIM OF THE REPORT 

Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 
January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road1 specifies that 
the Commission must submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the 
implementation  of  this  Regulation  and  on  future  developments  by  31  December  2014  and 
every 3 years after that. This is the third report that fulfils this requirement. 

This report outlines the background, policy context and coverage of that Regulation. The first 
two sections describe its implementation, methodology and data quality issues and look at the 
burden  on  the  Member  States  to  collect  data.  They  also  present  the  various  means  of  data 
dissemination.  The  last  two  sections  refer  to  possible  future  developments  of  road  freight 
transport statistics and provide the main conclusions. 

1.2. 

BACKGROUND OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK 

Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 is a recast of Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 of 25 May 
1998  on  statistical  returns  in  respect  of  the  carriage  of  goods  by  road2  and  marks  a  step 
forward  in  the  development  of  transport  statistics  in  the  EU.  It  is  the  basis  for  collecting  a 
wide range of data on road freight transport.  

Regulation  (EU)  No  70/2012  provides  the  Commission,  other  EU  institutions  and  national 
governments  with  comparable,  reliable,  harmonised,  regular  and  comprehensive  statistical 
data  on  the  scale  and  development  of  the  carriage  of  goods  by  road.  Such  information  is 
needed for framing, monitoring and evaluating EU policies. 

Member States send the information to the Commission in the form of microdata: this makes 
it  possible  to  provide  users  with  statistical  tables  containing  different  combinations  of 
variables subject to safeguards on confidentiality. 

Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 is designed to limit the burden on transport companies as much 
as  possible.  Data  collection  is  based  on  a  sample  survey,  and  therefore  information  is 
requested only for a sample of vehicles and for a limited amount of time (generally a week). 
Member States can exclude transport operations below certain thresholds from the survey3. 

1.3. 

POLICY CONTEXT 

Development of a common transport policy requires in-depth knowledge of the extent of road 
freight transport and how it has evolved. 

The  policy  relevance  is  very  high.  In  the  White  Paper  Roadmap  to  a  Single  European 
Transport  Area  -  Towards  a  competitive  and  resource  efficient  transport  system4,  10  goals 
were  defined  for  a  competitive  and  resource-efficient  transport  system.  These  goals  set  a 

1 OJ L 32, 3.2.2012, p. 1. 
2 OJ L 163, 6.6.1998, p. 1. 
3 In accordance with Article 1 of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012, each Member State may exclude road transport 
vehicles whose load capacity or maximum permissible weight is lower than a certain limit. This limit may not 
exceed a load capacity of 3.5 tonnes or a maximum permissible weight of 6 tonnes in the case of single motor 
vehicles. 

4 COM(2011) 144 final. 

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benchmark for achieving the target  of reducing  greenhouse  gas emissions by 60%. Detailed 
road  freight  transport  statistics  are  required  to  monitor  progress  towards  achieving  some  of 
these goals (e.g. the goal of shifting 30% of road freight transport activity on distances longer 
than 300 km to other transport modes by 2030). 
The European Green Deal5 is the new growth strategy that aims to make the EU’s economy 
sustainable  by  turning  climate  and  environmental  challenges  into  opportunities  across  all 
policy  areas  and  by  making  the  transition  just  and  inclusive  for  all.  To  achieve  climate 
neutrality,  a 90 % reduction  in  transport emissions is  needed by 2050. Priority actions for a 
shift to sustainable and smart mobility include:  

  boosting multimodal transport;  
  supporting  the  deployment  of  automated  and  connected  mobility  solutions  across 

modes; 

  better addressing external costs of transport activities through pricing;  
 

ramping up the production and deployment of sustainable alternative transport fuels; 
and 
reducing pollution from transport, especially in cities. 

 

The data collected under Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 is of importance not only to decision 
makers but also to professional organisations, transport companies, researchers and modellers 
in  the  field  of  road  transport.  The  survey  results  are  fundamental  for  monitoring  the  road 
haulage  market  in  Europe.  An  in-depth  knowledge  of  the  market  helps  improve  the 
competitiveness of companies in the sector. 

1.4. 

COVERAGE OF MEMBER STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES 

Regulation  (EU)  No  70/2012  applies  directly  and  in  its  entirety  to  all  Member  States  and 
requires that they provide data. However, in accordance with its Article 1(3), it does not apply 
to Malta, as long as the number of Maltese-registered goods road transport vehicles licensed 
to engage in the international carriage of goods by road does not exceed 400 vehicles. For that 
purpose,  once  a  year  Malta  must  submit    to  Eurostat  the  number  of  vehicles  transporting 
goods  by  road  that  are  licensed  to  engage  in  the  international  carriage  of  goods  by  road;  it 
must  do  this  at  the  latest  by  the  end  of  March  following  the  year  relating  to  the  number  of 
vehicles transporting goods by road. 

Norway and Switzerland also provide data. Montenegro, as a candidate country, has provided 
data since 2016. 

Since  1  February  2020,  when  the  United  Kingdom  left  the  European  Union,  Eurostat  has 
added  to  its  datasets  the  new  aggregate  ‘European  Union  -  27  countries  (from  2020)’  that 
excludes the United Kingdom. During the transition period until the end of 2020, the United 
Kingdom is continuing to send data to Eurostat. These data are made available to users. 

In  compliance  with  Article  5  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  70/2012,  countries  transmit  quarterly 
data to Eurostat. 

5 COM(2019) 640 final. 

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2. 

FOLLOW-UP  ON  THE  IMPLEMENTATION  OF  REGULATION  (EU)  NO 
70/2012 

2.1. 

COMPLIANCE WITH LEGAL OBLIGATIONS 

There is very high compliance with the data provision obligations defined in Regulation (EU) 
No  70/2012.  All  Member  States  deliver  the  requested  datasets,  with  delays  only  in  a  small 
number of cases mainly due to IT changes at national level. This makes it possible to produce 
high-quality, timely and reliable statistics on road freight transport in Europe. 

2.2. 

DATA COLLECTION METHODS USED IN THE MEMBER STATES 

The methodological arrangements of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 provide the framework for 
the collection of microdata by the Member States. 

Eurostat  gathers  information  about  national  data  collection  methods  (use  of  registers, 
sampling methodology, coverage, etc.) every 3 years and makes it available in its publication 
Methodologies  used  in  surveys  of  road  freight  transport  in  Member  States,  EFTA  and 
Candidate countries6. 

Moreover, starting with reference year 2018, reporting countries create national metadata files 
in  the  template  used  for  the  European  reference  metadata  files,  the  ‘Euro  SDMX  Metadata 
Structure’. National metadata files contain a statistical presentation of national data as well as 
information  on  national  legislation,  dissemination  policy,  data  quality  and  statistical 
processing of data7. 

2.3. 

BURDEN AND COSTS FOR THE MEMBER STATES 

Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 is designed to keep the burden on Member States to a minimum. 
In  most  of  the  countries,  no  extra  measures  have  to  be  taken,  as  the  existing  processes  are 
sufficient to meet the data collection requirements. 

According  to  the  information  reported  in  the  national  metadata  files,  the  vast  majority  of 
reporting  countries  consider  the  workload  for  data  provision  to  be  acceptable.  There  are 
significant  disparities  across  countries  as  concerns  the  burden  related  to  data  collection, 
depending  on  the  national  data  compilation  systems.  The  average  time  for  respondents  to 
report  data  for  one  vehicle  with  transport  activity  during  the  survey  period  is  estimated  at 
around 40 minutes. 

Concerning the cost, it varies from country to country as the size of the sample used to collect 
data differs. In some cases, the sample consists of a few thousand vehicles while in others the 
sample consists of several hundred thousand vehicles. The cost and burden generated by the 
data collection is justified in relation to the benefit of the resulting statistics. 

The Commission contributes to the efforts of the Member States to produce national statistics. 
Eurostat  manages  the  national  microdata  and  compiles  statistics  (D-tables)  for  transport 
activity  in  every  country  by  vehicles  registered  in  other  countries.  These  statistics  are  sent 
back  to  the  national  statistical  authorities,  allowing  them  to  have  complete  statistical 
information on all road freight operations on their territory by trucks registered anywhere in 

6 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-GQ-17-114 (Available only in 

English). 

7 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/road_go_esms.htm (Available only in English). 

3 

 
 
                                                           
the EU (except in Malta), in Switzerland and in Norway. The implementation of Regulation 
(EU) No 70/2012 and the D-tables provided by the Commission save the countries the effort 
of collecting data on the performance of foreign trucks on their territory. 

Furthermore,  collecting  and  managing  information  at  microdata  level  gives  Eurostat 
flexibility  in  meeting  user  needs  for  statistical  information,  without  delays  and  additional 
effort at national level. The dissemination of road freight transport statistics by Eurostat and 
of the D-tables by the Member States is in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) 
No 6/20038. 

2.4. 

REDUCING AND SIMPLIFYING ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN  

Reducing and simplifying administrative burden is a continuous concern for the Commission 
(Eurostat).  In  cooperation  with  national  statistical  institutes,  Eurostat  implements  specific 
actions to reduce the national burden of data collection and reporting. These actions include: 

1.  the development of tools to facilitate the reporting of detailed regional data; 

2.  the  development  of  updated  microdata  transmission  and  validation  tools,  which  
provide reporting countries with feedback on data quality and specific errors for each 
dataset; 

3.  the organisation of regular meetings of experts from Member States, EFTA countries,  
candidate countries and potential candidates (Expert Group on Road Freight Transport 
Statistics  and  task  forces)  to  exchange  good  practices  and  discuss  data  quality, 
methodological issues and future progress. 

In the future, the burden of data collection could be further reduced if the countries implement 
digital methods for data reporting to replace paper documents in use today. 

2.5. 

DATA VALIDATION AND QUALITY OF THE STATISTICAL DATA RECEIVED 

While  data  collection  and  transmission  is  the  responsibility  of  the  Member  States,  Eurostat 
takes all measures to detect errors in the data received, and maintains an IT system for data 
validation and processing. 

Overall,  the  quality  of  data  received  from  the  Member  States  is  very  good.  All  countries 
revise  data  if  there  are  errors.  For  national,  international  and  total  transport,  a  validation 
process is applied to quarterly microdata, and time series checks are made for quarterly and 
annual data: 

  Microdata  validation:  countries  transmit  data  to  Eurostat  via  the  EDAMIS  portal.  A 
validation  process,  implemented  by  the  main  IT  system,  detects  basic  errors  and 
erroneous  codes.  Reporting  countries  receive  a  validation  report  for  each  data 
transmission,  containing  details  at  microdata  level  to  make  it  easy  to  correct  any 
errors.  Moreover,  the  Commission  is  continuously  developing  its  validation  rules  to 
meet evolving needs and ensure the production of high-quality statistics. 

  Time  series  checks:  the  Commission  considers  it  important  to  identify  outliers  in  a 
time  series  before  data  is  published.  It  is  important  that  reporting  countries  confirm 
trends where large variations are observed. When necessary, countries submit revised 
datasets or explanations of the reasons behind significant time series variations. 

8 Commission Regulation (EC) No 6/2003 of 30 December 2002 concerning the dissemination of statistics on 

the carriage of goods by road (OJ L 1, 4.1.2003, p. 45). 

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2.6.  METHODOLOGICAL SUPPORT TO MEMBER STATES 

Eurostat  continuously  provides  methodological  and  technical  support  to  Member  States  and 
maintains a reliable data and metadata information system for the production of road freight 
transport statistics. 

Eurostat has produced two reference manuals for implementing Regulation (EU) No 70/2012: 
  Road freight transport methodology9, which outlines the methodological basis for the 
compilation of road freight statistics in Member States, candidate countries and EFTA 
countries; 

  Methodologies used in surveys of road freight transport in Member States, EFTA and 
Candidate  countries,  which  presents  the  methodological  aspects  of  the  surveys  for 
road freight transport conducted in the reporting countries. 

2.7. 

DATA DISSEMINATION 

2.7.1.  Eurostat’s dissemination tables 

Aggregated  data,  based  on  the  microdata  collected  under  Regulation  (EU)  No  70/2012,  is 
published  in  Eurostat’s  dissemination  database10.  Users  can  obtain  detailed  statistical  tables 
produced in line with the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 6/2003. There are 43 
tables on road freight transport complemented by a single European metadata file and several 
national metadata files. 

2.7.2.  Publications 

Eurostat  produces  ‘Statistics  Explained’  articles  that  provide  an  analysis  of  the  data  for  the 
media and the general public. They cover the following topics: 

  General trends in road freight transport11 
  Road freight transport by vehicle characteristics12 
  Road freight transport by journey characteristics13 
  Road freight transport by type of goods14 
  Road freight transport - Cabotage15. 

These articles are updated annually, except for the one on cabotage, which is updated every 2 
years. Articles are updated when the data collection for a given reference year is finalised. 

9 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-GQ-16-105 (Available only in 

English). 

10 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/transport/data/database (Available in English, French and German). 
11 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Road_freight_transport_statistics (Available only in 

English). 

12 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Road_freight_transport_by_vehicle_characteristics 

(Available only in English). 

13 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Road_freight_transport_by_journey_characteristics 

(Available only in English). 

14 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Road_freight_transport_by_type_of_goods 

(Available only in English). 

15 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Road_freight_transport_statistics_-_cabotage 

(Available only in English). 

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2.7.3.  Anonymised data 
In  compliance  with  Commission  Regulation  (EU)  No  557/201316,  road  freight  transport 
microdata  are  anonymised  and  made  available  to  research  entities  for  scientific  purposes. 
Requests  for  anonymised  data  are  received  by  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  and  access  is 
granted following the joint approval of the Commission (Eurostat) and the national statistical 
authorities. In 2018 and 2019, eight research entities in total showed interest in obtaining the 
anonymised data of the European Road Freight Survey. 

2.7.4.  Other means of dissemination 

Data  is  disseminated  also  via  tailor-made  data  extractions  for  users,  and  in  Eurostat  news 
items and publications (e.g. statistical book Energy, transport and environment statistics17). 

3. 

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ROAD FREIGHT STATISTICS 

The  European  Green  Deal,  which  aims  at  making  Europe  climate  neutral  by  2050,  has 
announced  a  set  of  transformative  policies  across  the  economic  sectors,  including  transport. 
Road  freight  transport  statistics  can  help  with  setting  and  monitoring  policy  targets.  This  is 
achieved  by  providing  data  on  volumes  of  goods  transported,  kilometres  travelled,  and 
equipment  and infrastructure. Road freight  transport  is  a particularly significant  sector,  as it 
has the highest share in the European Union’s inland freight transport (75.3% in 2018). 

From June 2018 until March 2020, the Expert Group on Road Freight Transport Statistics met 
twice. During these meetings, Eurostat, Member States, EFTA countries, candidate countries 
and potential candidates discussed data needs, ways to improve road freight statistics and how 
to  reduce  the  data  collection  burden.  One  development  currently  being  discussed  concerns 
future statistics on transport by light utility vehicles. Although such vehicles do not transport 
very  heavy  loads,  they  perform  a  high  number  of  kilometres  in  urban  areas,  resulting  in  a 
significant  contribution  to  emissions  and  congestion.  Moreover,  an  increasing  use  of  these 
vehicles can be observed also on interurban and international journeys. Light utility vehicles 
have so far been largely outside the scope of European transport policy and the related acquis. 
This is about to change with the recently adopted Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 and Regulation 
(EU) 2020/1055. There is an increasing demand for data on the use of light utility vehicles, at 
least those that are within the scope of European legislation. 

Data for light utility vehicles can also be retrieved from the register on roadworthiness tests 
that gathers information on the engine type, weight class and fuel type of the vehicle as well 
as its emission-control technology. 

A dedicated task force has been exploring this area since 2018, looking into the feasibility and 
parameters  of  a  data  collection  on  light  utility  vehicles.  Discussions  revolve  around  a 
methodology to be developed, including definitions, thresholds, data sources and variables to 
be collected. In the context of this project, in early 2020 the Commission (Eurostat) launched 
pilot studies on statistics for light utility vehicles. During its most recent meeting on 4 March 
2020,  the  Task  Force  discussed  several  methodological  aspects  and  variables  that  could  be 
collected. The work of the Task Force will continue. The need for data on light utility vehicles 
is becoming important for many countries and at EU level. However, it is not yet clear if and 

16 Commission Regulation (EU) No 557/2013 of 17 June 2013 implementing Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of 
the European Parliament and of the Council on European Statistics as regards access to confidential data for 
scientific purposes and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 (OJ L 164, 18.6.2013, p. 16). 
17 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-statistical-books/-/KS-DK-19-001 (Available only in English). 

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to what extent statistics for such vehicles could be collected in the near future, given the high 
cost and burden involved. 

In a recent  consultation, the reporting  countries  identified the benefit of  potential additional 
variables on the type of fuel that vehicles consume and on their emission classes. A variable 
on the fuel consumed during a journey may also be useful for the calculation of air emissions. 
Variables regarding automated/autonomous driving may be considered in the future. Data for 
most of these variables should be retrieved from administrative databases (registers) in order 
to avoid additional burden on the respondents. 

Data for the optional variable ‘Possibility of using vehicle for combined transport’ could be 
linked to intermodal statistics. The NACE activity linked to a vehicle is currently requested at 
4-digit level; however, it should also be accepted at higher levels and even at the top-sector 
level of the NACE classification. 

Reporting  countries  have  also  pointed  out  the  need  to  make  some  reporting  rules  more 
concrete; e.g., an exact  definition of the vehicle population would be very useful as all data 
collections would be more harmonised and comparable.  

The  issue  concerning  the  heavy  burden  that  the  collection  of  transport  data  causes  in 
proportion  to  a  potential  small  number  of  road  vehicles  and  the  benefit  of  the  collection 
should also be considered. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

and 

results  obtained 

experience  gained 

implementation  of 
The 
Regulation (EU) No 70/2012  are  considered  positive.  Countries  comply  with  the  data 
provision  obligations,  and  the  resources  allocated  at  both  national  and  Commission  level 
permit  the  production  of  high-quality  results.  The  Commission  supports  Member  States  in 
implementing Regulation (EU) No 70/2012, maintains an IT system for data management and 
has improved communication to minimise the reporting burden. 

through 

the 

Regulation  (EU) No 70/2012  has  proven  to  be  an  efficient  and  effective  tool  for  the 
production of reliable and comparable road freight transport statistics at both EU and national 
level,  preventing  duplication  of  work.  The  statistics  produced  are  disseminated  as  tables  in 
Eurostat’s  dissemination  database  and  publications,  as  anonymised  datasets  and  as  other 
tailor-made  extractions.  Road  freight  transport  statistics  are  valuable  for  designing  and 
assessing policies and for monitoring the road haulage market in Europe.  

7