COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2006/1/EC on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road
Date: 2022-01-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, carriage of goods, intra-EU transport, road transport, vehicle rental

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.1.2022  COM(2022) 14 final 2017/0113 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2006/1/EC on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road  
 
2017/0113 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of 
the Council amending Directive 2006/1/EC on the use of vehicles hired without drivers 
for the carriage of goods by road 

1. 

Background 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and to 
the Council (document COM(2017) 282 final – 2017/0113 COD): 

6 June 2017 

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: 

6 December 2017 

Date of the opinion of the European Committee of the Regions 

1 February 2018 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

15 January 2019 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

22 February 2019 

20 December 2021 

2. 

Objective of the proposal from the Commission 

The use of hired goods vehicles (instead of vehicles owned by the undertakings) can improve 
the  allocation  of  resources  (e.g.  no  need  for  capital  to  be  tied  up  in  a  vehicle  that  is 
underutilised) and increase the flexibility and productivity of undertakings. The proposal aims 
at  promoting  the  use  of  hired  vehicles  by  removing  (some  of)  the  possibilities  for  Member 
States to restrict their use under Directive 2006/1/EC1.  

Member States may currently restrict the use of hired vehicles above 6 tonnes used for own 
account  operations  and  they  may  restrict,  on  their  respective  territories,  the  use  of  vehicles, 
which  an  undertaking  has  hired  outside  its  country  of  establishment.  As  the  use  of  such 
vehicles is allowed in some Member States but not in others, there is a legal patchwork in the 
EU,  which  creates  legal  uncertainty.  One  of  the  objectives  of  the  proposal  was  to  get  legal 
certainty for the use of hired vehicles across the EU. Another objective was to allow the use 
of vehicles hired (and registered) in another Member State, to meet in particular short-term, 
seasonal or temporary demand peaks or to replace defective or damaged vehicles. 

3. 

Comments on the position of the Council 

1  Directive 2006/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2006 on the use of 

vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road, OJ L 33, 4.2.2006, p. 82.  

EN 

1 

  EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
3.1. 

Minimum period for hire 

The  question  for  which  minimum  period  Member  States  have  to  allow  the  use  of  hired 
vehicles with a foreign number plate by undertakings established under their legislations was 
the most contentious issue for the co-legislators. The Council position is based on a two-track 
solution,  linking  the  minimum  hire  period  to  the  national  rules  for  registration  of  hired 
vehicles. Member States would be free either to allow only 30 consecutive days for the use of 
hired vehicles with foreign number plates (for Member States with a registration requirement 
after 30 days or less) or to grant 2 months of use of such vehicles (for Member States with 
more “generous” registration rules). It would also be possible to have complete liberalisation 
(no registration requirement at  all  for  foreign vehicles used by  undertakings of the Member 
State), if a Member State so wishes. The Council has also adopted rules, which oblige haulage 
companies  to  register  hired  vehicles,  also  those  hired  in  a  Member  State  other  than  the 
Member  State  of  establishment,  in  the  national  electronic  registers  of  road  transport 
undertakings.  

The  Commission  can  agree  to  this  compromise  solution  as  it  reflects  the  objective  of  the 
Commission proposal to allow for more flexibility in the market of hired vehicles than under 
the  existing  directive.  Limitations  can  now  only  be  introduced  by  Member  States  for  their 
own undertakings,  while the existing directive allowed restrictions on the hiring of vehicles 
for  foreign  undertakings.  Under  the  existing  directive,  Member  States  are  able  to  ask  for 
immediate domestic registration of hired vehicles with a foreign number plate. According to 
the Council position there will now be a minimum period of use (30 days) which all Member 
States  have  to  grant,  and  during  which  they  cannot  ask  for  national  registration  of  such 
vehicles  (which  is  costly  and  burdensome  for  the  undertakings).  The  provisions  on  the 
obligations for haulage companies to register hired vehicles in the national electronic registers 
are also acceptable, since they allow a better control of such vehicles by national authorities.  

Since the renewed directive will likely increase the use of hired vehicles, and such vehicles 
are  often  newer  and  more  environment-friendly,  this  solution  is  also  beneficial  for  the 
achievement of the EU climate goals. 

3.2. 

Limitation  of  hiring  possibility  to  25%  of  vehicles  “at  the  disposal  of”  the 
undertaking 

As regards the minimum threshold related to an undertaking’s vehicle fleet below which the 
Member State of establishment of the undertaking cannot restrict the use of vehicles hired and 
registered in another Member State, the Council text sets it at:    
“25% of the goods vehicle fleet which is at the disposal of the undertaking pursuant to point 
(g)  of  Article  5(1)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1071/2009  either  on  31  December  of  the  year 
preceding the use of the hired vehicle or on the day when the undertaking begins to use the 
hired vehicle, as determined by the Member State.” 

The  Council  did  however  not  want  to  include  vehicles,  which  are  at  the  disposal  of  an 
undertaking  that  have  been  hired  (and  that  are  registered)  abroad.  So,  for  instance,  if  the 
undertaking is established in a Member State that makes full use of this restriction, and if it 
has 120 vehicles at its disposal, of which 20 are registered in another Member State, then it 
may hire only 5 more vehicles in another Member State, to reach a total of 25 such vehicles 
(25% of 120-20 = 25), instead of 10 more such vehicles (25% of 120 = 30). 

EN 

2 

  EN 

 
The  Commission  can  accept  the  Council  position.  The  concept  “at  the  disposal”  is  well 
established (cf. Article 1(5)(d) (iii) and Article 4(3) of  Regulation (EC) No 1072/20092) and 
cannot  be  misunderstood  in  the  way  that  “vehicles  owned  by  an  undertaking”  could  be 
misunderstood.  Many  lorries  are  leased;  the  lessees  have  the  economic  ownership,  however 
the  lessor  keeps  the  legal  ownership,  so  it  is  not  clear  how  “ownership”  would  have  to  be 
understood. “Vehicles at the disposal of an undertaking”  is of course a broader concept than 
“vehicles owned by an undertaking” as it also includes all vehicles held under a hire purchase, 
hire or leasing contract and not just vehicles wholly owned by an undertaking. Therefore, this 
concept  allows  a  higher  number  of  hired  vehicles  and  increases  flexibility  for  the  haulage 
companies, which would be another argument in favour of supporting it. 

3.3. 

 Own account services 

The  Council’s  position  allows  Member  States  to  restrict  the  use  of  hired  vehicles  for  own 
account  operations only  in  the case of vehicles that are registered in  another Member State, 
and this irrespective of the weight of the vehicle.  

The  Commission  can  accept  this  solution  since  it  will  exclude  restrictions  for  domestic 
undertakings  performing  own  account  operations  with  domestic  hired  vehicles.  Such 
restrictions  are  possible  under  the  existing  Directive.  It  was  one  of  the  main  points  of  the 
Commission  proposal  to  delete  this  very  restrictive  provision,  for  which  there  is  no  market 
need. The Commission can accept the Council solution which only allows restrictions for own 
account operations performed with vehicles with foreign number plates. This  restriction  can 
be  justified,  since  Member  States  can  exert  no  control  over  such  vehicles,  as  they  are  not 
registered  in  the  national  registers  of  road  haulage  undertakings  (which  only  contain 
professional  haulage companies and not  own account  operators). For domestic own account 
vehicles such a control is possible since they need to be registered according to the national 
registration rules applying to all vehicles. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Council  position  is  acceptable  to  the  Commission.  It  reflects  the  objectives  of  the 
Commission  proposal  and  will  significantly  increase  the  flexibility  for  undertakings  to  use 
hired  vehicles  that  are  registered  in  other  Member  States,  or  to  use  such  vehicles  for  own 
account purposes. It is thus an important step in the implementation of the Mobility Package I. 
Since the revised legislation will likely increase the use of hired vehicles, and such vehicles 
are  often  newer  and  more  environment-friendly,  this  solution  is  also  beneficial  for  the 
achievement of the objectives of the European Green Deal. 

2  Regulation  (EC)  No  1072/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  21  October  2009  on 

common rules for access to the international road haulage market, OJ L 300, 14.11.2009.  

EN 

3 

  EN