CELEX: 51997PC0072
Language: en
Date: 1997-02-26
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a Member State

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                             Brussels, 26.02.1997
                                             COM(97)72 final
                                             96/0002 (SYN)
                          Amended proposal for a
                      COUNCIL REGULATION (EO
laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate
     national road passenger transport services within a Member State
         (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                             of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
At its plenary session of 27 and 28 November 1996, the European Parliament approved,
subject to a number of amendments, the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) No
laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road
passenger transport services within a Member State.1
The Commission has accepted the amendments concerning:
-  Recital 5a (new), on the gradual approximation of national legislation;
-  Recital 6 concerning the general principle of the liberalization and phased
   harmonization of the conditions of competition, subject to "Union" being replaced by
   "Community";
- Recital 6a (new) on the degree of capacity utilization of vehicles;
-  Recital 6c (new) concerning the accessibility of transport systems;
-  Recital 8 on unifying the system applicable to cabotage operations of regular services;
-  Article 1, first indent on the place of establishment of transport companies, subject to
   a formulation being found which is compatible with Article 58 of the Treaty;
-  Article 3 on excluding urban and suburban services from the scope of the Regulation
   on cabotage;
 -  Article 4 concerning the deletion of the legal provisions applicable to cabotage
    operations carried out in the course of a regular international service, provided that
    Article 5(2) is also amended to introduce a reference to the services under Article 3(2).
    Parliament's objective in Amendment 9 concerning Recital 8 is to make all cabotage
    operations in the form of regular services subject to the same legal provisions. For
    this reason, Amendment 14 of Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism
    proposes deleting from the Commission proposal Article 4, which lays down the legal
     OJ No C 60, 29.02.96.
 ---pagebreak---   provisions applicable to cabotage operations carried out in the course of an
  international service. This makes all cabotage operations under Articles 3(2) and 3(3)
  subject to the same legal provisions, i.e. those contained in Article 5(2), which avoids
  a situation whereby the legal provisions applicable to cabotage operations under
  Article 3(2) are more favourable than those applicable to cabotage operations carried
  out for all the other regular services under Article 3(3).
  However, it still remains possible to perform these cabotage operations, since
  provision is made in Article 3(2). It is therefore necessary to provide that the legal
  provisions applicable to cabotage operations performed in the course of an
  international service are the same as those applicable to cabotage operations under
  Article 3(3) of the Commission proposal, i.e. the national legislation of the host
  Member State referred to in Article 5(2).
  The reference to Article 3(3) in Article 5(2) should therefore be supplemented with a
   reference to Article 3(2) which covers the issue of cabotage in the course of an
   international service.
- Article 13 on the report on the application of the Regulation and the possible
   submission of a proposal on the basis of the report's conclusions.
The Commission thus amends its proposal as follows:
 ---pagebreak---                                        Amended proposal for a
                                C O U N C I L R E G U L A T I O N (EC)
     laying d o w n the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate
          national road passenger transport services within a M e m b e r State
The Commission proposal in document C O M ( 9 5 ) 729 final - SYN 96/0002 2 is amended
as follows:
       Initial C o m m i s s i o n proposal                         Amended proposal
                                             Recital 5a (new)
                                                       "Whereas carriers providing such services
                                                       should be subject to comparable systems,
                                                       so as to limit inequality in the conditions of
                                                       competition because of their nationality and
                                                       country of establishment. and            hence
                                                       promote the gradual approximation of
                                                       national legislation:"
       Initial C o m m i s s i o n proposal                         Amended proposal
                                                 Recital 6
"Whereas establishing the internal market               "Whereas Lhe. European          Community's
involves the abolition of frontier controls             internal market is an area for the free
and, consequently, an increase in intra-                movement of t>oods. persons, services and
Community traffic;"                                     capital: whereas it is necessary to liberalize
                                                        the transport of persons by coach and bus.
                                                        in tandem with the phased harmonization
                                                        of the socio-economic, fiscal and technical
                                                        conditions    governing     road    passenger
                                                        transport within the Member States:"
 2
     OJ No C 60, 29.02.96.
 ---pagebreak---       Initial Commission proposal                          Amended proposal
                                    Recital 6a (new)
                                              "Whereas from an environmental point of
                                              view it is desirable to offer carriers the
                                              possibility of optimizing the degree of
                                              capacity utilization of their vehicles:"
      Initial Commission proposal                          Amended proposal
                                     Recital 6c (new)
                                              "Whereas the accessibility of transport
                                               systems and in particular the accessibility
                                               of intercity bus ami coach services.
                                               especially on routes across Europe, is one
                                               of the objectives of the common transport
                                               policy;"
       Initial Commission proposal                         Amended proposal
                                         Recital 8
"Whereas the provisions of the host "Whereas the provisions of the host
Member State applicable to cabotage Member State applicable to cabotage
transport operations should be fixed;"         transport operations should be fixed, so as
                                               to ensure that these transport operations are
                                              carried out under an authorization system
                                              and that the same regulatory conditions arc
                                              applicable to cabotage operations of regular
                                              services, and that these operations are
                                              carried out exclusively in the host Member
                                               State or that thev are carried out in the
                                              course of a regular international service in
                                              accordance with the provisions of Council
                                              Regulation No 684/92;"
 ---pagebreak---       Initial Commission proposal                            Amended proposal
                                      Recital 9 (new)
                                                "Whereas urban carriage should, for the
                                                present, be excluded from the scope of this
                                                Regulation, in view of its character as a
                                                service in the general interest:"
       Initial Commission proposal                            Amended proposal
                                   Article 1, first indent
"Any carrier who operates road passenger "Any carrier who operates road passenger
transport services for hire or reward who:      transport services for hire or reward who:
- is established in a Member State, - is established in a Member State of the
   hereinafter referred to as the "Member           Community, where his central offices
   State of establishment", in accordance           and main place of business is located,
   with its legislation, and"                       hereinafter referred to as the "Member
                                                    State of establishment", in accordance
                                                    with its legislation, and"
 ---pagebreak---          Initial Commission proposal                              Amended proposal
                                               Article 3
"With effect from the date of entry into "With effect from the date of entry into
force of this Regulation, cabotage transport force of this Regulation, cabotage transport
operations shall be authorized for the operations shall be authorized for the
following services:                                  following services:
1. special regular services and occasional           1. special regular services and occasional
    services;                                           services;
2. the      regular     services     defined    in 2. the      regular     services   defined    in
    Article 2( 1 ), provided they are performed         Article 2( 1 ), provided they are performed
    by a carrier not resident in the host               by a carrier not resident in the host
    Member State in the course of a regular             Member State in the course of a regular
    international service in accordance with            international service in accordance with
    the provisions of Council Regulation                the provisions of Council Regulation
    684/92;                                             684/92;
3. the other regular services."                      3. the other regular services.
                                                         Regular urban and suburban services
                                                         shall not be covered by this Regulation."
          Initial Commission proposal                              Amended proposal
                                               Article 4
 "1.       Cabotage       transport     operations    Deleted.
           carried out in accordance with
           Article 3(2) shall be subject to
           authorization by the competent
           authorities in the host Member
           State.
 2.        Applications for authorization may
           be refused:
           (a)    if the competent authorities in
                  the host       Member       State
                  produce evidence that the
                  regular service for which the
                  application       to     perform
                  cabotage operations has been
                  submitted      would     directly
                  compromise the existence of
 ---pagebreak---           regular    services      already
          authorized, except in cases in
          which the regular services in
          question are carried out only
          by a single carrier or group of
          carriers;
   (b)    if the competent authorities in
          the host Member State
          produce evidence that the
          regular service for which the
          application      to      perform
          cabotage operations has been
          submitted is aimed only at the
          most lucrative of the services
          existing    on      the     links
          concerned.
   The fact that an operator offers
   lower prices than are offered by
   other road carriers or the fact that
   the link in question is already
   operated by other road carriers may
   not in itself constitute justification
   for rejecting the application.
    Paragraph 4(a) of Article 7 of
    Regulation 684/92 shall apply,
    mutatis mutandis, to applications
    for authorization of cabotage
    operations in the form of the regular
    services      provided       for      in
    Article 3(2).
    Reasons must be given for rejection
    of the application.
    The competent authorities may
    refuse applications only on the basis
    of reasons compatible with this
    Regulation.
3.  The Member States shall guarantee
    carriers an opportunity to defend
    their interests in the event of
    rejection of their application for
    authorization.
4.  Authorizations shall be issued in the
    name of the transport undertaking;
    they may not be transferred by the
 ---pagebreak---    latter to third parties. However, the
   carrier who has received the
   authorization may, with the consent
   of the competent authority in the
   host Member State, operate the
   service through the subcontractor
   authorized       to     provide     the
   international service referred to in
   Article 2(1.1) of Regulation 684/92.
   In this case, the name and role of
   the subcontractor shall be indicated
   in      the     authorization.     The
   subcontractor must fulfil           the
   conditions laid down in Article 1.
   In the case of undertakings
   associaled for the purpose of
   performing cabotage operations in
   the form of a regular service, the
   cabotage authorization shall be
    issued in the names of all the
    undertakings. It shall be given to
    the undertaking that manages the
    operation and copies shall be given
    to the others. The authorization
    shall state the names of all the
    operators.
5.  The authorization shall be valid for
    a maximum of five years and, in
    any case, for not longer than the
    authorization relating to the
    international service within the
    framework of which the cabotage
    operation is carried out.
6.  Save in the event of force majeure,
    the operator of a regular cabotage
    service shall, until the authorization
    expires, take all measures to
    guarantee a transport service that
    fulfils the standards of continuity,
    regularity and capacity and the
    other conditions laid down by the
    competent authority of the host
    Member State with regard to the
    route of the service, the bus stops,
    the timetable and the period of
    validity of the authorization. These
    conditions may not be less
 ---pagebreak---           favourable than the conditions
          applied to regular transport services
          provided by resident carriers.
 7.       The authorization or a certified true
          copy thereof must be kept on board
          the vehicle.
 8.       The Commission shall, after
          consulting the Member States, lay
          down the model for applications for
          authorization of cabotage operations
          in the form of regular services, the
          model authorization and the way in
          which they are to be used."
         Initial Commission proposal                         Amended proposal
                   Article 5(2)                                  Article 4(2)
  "Save as otherwise provided in Community      "Save as otherwise provided in Community
  legislation, cabotage operations which form   legislation, cabotage operations which form
  part of the transport services provided for   part of the transport services provided for
  in Article 3(3) shall be subject to the       in Article 3(2) and (3) shall be subject to
  existing       laws,     regulations      and the existing laws, regulations and
  administrative provisions in force in the     administrative provisions in force in the
  host Member State, regarding the capacity     host Member State, regarding the capacity
  to provide transport services, the routes to  to provide transport services, the routes to
  be operated and the regularity, continuity    be operated and the regularity, continuity
  and frequency of services.                    and frequency of services.
  Any compensation for public service Any compensation for public service
  obligations must be paid to all the obligations must be paid to all the
I Community operators concerned."                Community operators concerned."
          Initial Commission proposal                         Amended proposal
  Article 6                                      Article 5
   Article 7                                     Article 6
   Article 8                                     Article 7
   Article 9                                     Article 8
   Article 10                                    Article 9
   Article 11                                    Article 10
   Article 12                                    Article 11
                                                  10
 ---pagebreak---        Initial Commission proposal                    Amended proposal
                 Article 13                                 Article 12
"The Commission shall report to the        "The Commission shall report to the
Council before 31 December 1999 on the     Council and Parliament before 31
application of this Regulation and, in     December 1999 on the application of this
particular, on the impact of cabotage      Regulation and, in particular, on the impact
transport operations on national transport of cabotage transport operations on national
markets."                                  transport markets."
       Initial Commission proposal                     Amended proposal
Article 14                                 Article 13
Article 15                                 Article 14
 The remainder of the text is unchanged.
 Done at Brussels,                                        For the Council
                                              ii
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                             COM(97) 72 final
                                             DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                       07 10
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-063-EN-C
                                                              ISBN 92-78-16192-6
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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