CELEX: 51988PC0111
Language: en
Date: 1988-05-03
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS IN INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORT

22. 11. 88                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 297/13
                                                                II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                  COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on structural improvements in inland waterway
                                                            transport
                                                      COM(88) 111 final
                               (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 19 May 1988)
                                                         (88/C 297/12)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            transport services on the linked inland waterways of the
                                                                    Member States concerned must contribute to one of the
                                                                    scrapping funds set up;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 75
thereof,
                                                                    Whereas, in view of the present severity of structural
                                                                    overcapacity, of the likely lack of financial resources to
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  reduce this overcapacity rapidly and of the danger of a
                                                                    further decline in demand in the wake of other industrial
                                                                    changes, it appears advisable to set up, for an indefinite
Having regard      to   the   opinion    of   the   European        period, the legal, administrative and financial instruments
Parliament,                                                         needed to remedy this overcapacity;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                    Whereas overcapacity generally effects every sector of
Social Committee,
                                                                    the inland waterway transport market; whereas the
                                                                    measures adopted must, therefore, be generally
Whereas the structural overcapacity manifest for some               applicable and cover all cargo vessels and pusher craft;
time in the fleets operating on the linked inland                   whereas, however, vessels which in no way contribute to
waterway networks of Belgium, France, Germany,                      the overcapacity on the abovementioned network of
 Luxembourg and the Netherlands appreciably affects the             linked inland waterways either because of their size or
 economics of transport services, particularly of the               because they are operated solely on closed national
 carriage of goods by inland waterway in those countries;           markets, could be exempted from these measures;
                                                                    whereas, by contrast, private fleets performing carriage
                                                                    on own account must be included in the system because
 Whereas forecasts show no sign of a sufficient increase            of their impact on transport markets;
 in demand in this sector to absorb this overcapacity in
 the next few years; whereas in fact the share of the total
 transport market taken by inland waterway transport is             Whereas, in view of the fundamental differences between
 continuing to decline as a result of progressive changes            the dry cargo and liquid cargo markets, it is advisable to
 in the basic industries supplied mainly by inland                   keep separate accounts in each fund for dry cargo
 waterway;                                                           carriers and tanker vessels;
 Whereas the results of the national vessel-scrapping
 schemes organized by certain Member States, while                  Whereas, in the context of an economic , policy
 positive, have been insufficient, for want of international         compatible with the Treaty, responsibility for structural
 coordination of these schemes;                                      improvements in a given sector of the economy lies
                                                                     primarily with operators in the sector; whereas,
                                                                     therefore, the cost of any system introduced must be
 Whereas a common approach, allowing Member States                   borne by the inland waterway transport undertakings;
 to take joint measures to attain the same objective, is a           whereas, in order to launch the system on a fully oper-
 sine que non for effectively reducing overcapacity;                 ational basis from the outset, arrangements should be
 whereas, to this end, scrapping funds should be                     made, however, for the Member States concerned to pay
 introduced in the Member States particularly concerned              an advance in the form of repayable loans; whereas, in
 by inland waterway transport; whereas undertakings                  view of the difficult economic situation of the under-
 established in other Member States but providing                    takings, these loans should be interest-free;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 297/14                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                 22. 11. 88
Whereas, in accordance with Article 74 of the Treaty,             HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
the objectives of the Treaty are to be pursued as regards
transport within the framework of a common policy:
whereas, as Article 77 makes clear, this policy may                                         Article 1
include the granting of aids, in particular if they meet the
needs of coordination of transport; whereas the                   1.     Inland waterway vessels used to carry goods by
Community's action in this area, including aids, must             inland waterway in the Member States shall be subject to
however take into acount the various general objectives           a system for structural improvements in inland waterway
of Article 3 and in particular that of Article 3 (f),             transport under the conditions laid down hereinafter.
concerning competition; whereas, as with all aids subject
to the rules of Article 92 et seq of the Treaty, it is
desirable to ensure that the measures provided for in this        2.     The system shall comprise:
Regulation and their implementation do not distort or
threaten to distort competition by favouring certain
undertakings to an extent which is contrary to the                — measures to reduce structural overcapacity by means
common interest; whereas, in order to place the enter-                of scrapping schemes;
prises concerned in similar conditions of competition, the
contributions to be paid to the scrapping funds and the
                                                                  — supporting measures to avoid aggravation of existing
scrapping premiums should be set at uniform rates;
                                                                      overcapacity or the emergence of further overca-
whereas likewise the scrapping programmes should be
                                                                      pacity.
started at the same time, be of the same duration and
subject to the same conditions in all the Member States
concerned;
                                                                                            Article 2
                                                                  1.     This Regulation shall apply to cargo-carrying
                                                                  vessels and pusher craft providing transport services on
Whereas steps should be taken to prevent the gains from
                                                                  own account or for hire or reward and registered in a
the coordinated scrapping scheme being cancelled out by
                                                                  Member State or, if not registered, operated by an
extra capacity coming into service at the same time;
                                                                  undertaking established in a Member State.
whereas, in cases of serious and persistent overcapacity,
temporary measures may have to be taken to curb
investment without, however, totally blocking access to           For the purposes of this Regulation 'undertaking' means
the inland waterway market or imposing a quota on the
                                                                  any natural or legal person exercising an economic
national fleets;
                                                                  activity on a non-industrial or industrial scale.
                                                                  2.     The following shall be exempt from this Regu-
Whereas, as part of the proposed system, social measures
                                                                  lation :
should be taken to help workers who wish to leave the
inland waterway industry or to retrain for jobs in
another sector;                                                   (a) vessels sailing exclusively on national waterways not
                                                                       linked to other waterways in the Community;
Whereas, since the system is a Community one, decisions           (b) — pusher craft with a motive power not exceeding
on its operation must be taken at Community level after                    300 kilowatts;
consultation with the Member States and the organiz-                   — sea-going inland waterway vessels and ship-borne
ations representing the inland waterway transport                          barges used exclusively for transport operations
industry; whereas the requisite power for the adoption of                  which include a sea crossing;
those decisions, as well as for ensuring their implemen-
tation and the maintenance of the conditions of compe-                 — ferries;
tition laid down in this Regulation, must be conferred on              — vessels providing      a non-profit-making     public
the Commission;                                                            service.
                                                                                            Article 3
Whereas, in order to prevent distortion of competition
on the markets in question and to render the proposed              1.    Each of the Member States whose inland
system more effective, it is desirable for Switzerland to         waterways are linked to those of another Member State
adopt similar measures for its fleet on the linked inland         and the tonnage of whose fleet is above 100 000 tonnes,
waterway network of the Member States concerned;                  hereinafter referred to as 'the Member States concerned',
whereas, as provided for by the Treaty, the Commission            shall set up, under its national legislation and with its
should therefore open negotiations on this subject with           own administrative resources, a Scrapping Fund, here-
Switzerland, on behalf of the Community,                          inafter referred to as 'the Fund'.'
 ---pagebreak--- 22. 11. 88                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 297/15
2.     The competent authorities in the Member State              — the adjustment coefficients for each            type   and
concerned shall administer the Fund. Each Member State                 category of inland waterway vessel.
shall involve its national organizations representing
 inland waterway carriers in this administration.
                                                                  2.     Rates of contributions and scrapping premiums
                                                                  shall be expressed in ECU and shall be the same for each
 3.    Each Fund shall consist of two separate accounts,
                                                                  Fund.
 one for dry cargo carriers, the other for tanker vessels.
                           Article 4                              3.     Contribution rates shall be fixed at a level allowing
                                                                  the Funds sufficient financial resources to make an
 1.    For each vessel referred to in Article 2 and not           effective contribution to reducing the structural
 exempted from this Regulation the owner shall pay into           imbalance between supply and demand in the inland
 one of the Funds set up under Article 3 a contribution           waterway transport sector. In addition, they shall be set
 fixed in accordance with Article 6.                              at a level acceptable to inland waterway undertakings in
                                                                  a difficult economic position.
 2.    The contribution for vessels registered in one of the
 Member States concerned or for non-registered vessels            Contributions shall be calculated on the basis of the
 operated by an undertaking established in one of those           deadweight tonnage and motive power of the vessel.
 States shall be paid into the Fund of the Member State           They shall be paid annually at the start of the year in
 where the vessel is registered or the undertaking is estab-      return for a certificate of payment. From 1 March of the
 lished, respectively.                                            year concerned this certificate must be on board the
                                                                  vessel or, in the case of unmanned vessels, on board the
 3.    The contribution for vessels registered in another         pusher craft.
 Member State or for non-registered vessels operated by
 an undertaking established in another Member State
                                                                  In duly proven cases where the vessel has been laid up
 shall be paid into one of the Funds set up in the Member
                                                                  for more than three consecutive months, the contribution
 States concerned, at the choice of the vessel owner.
                                                                  may be refunded in respect of the period for which the
                                                                  vessel was laid up.
 This choice shall be made once only and shall apply to
 all vessels belonging to the same owner or operated by
 the same undertaking.                                            4.     The Commission shall lay down the periods during
                                                                  which scrapping premiums may be obtained and the
                           Article 5                              conditions for granting these premiums on the basis of
                                                                  the objectives to be attained, the vessel types or
  1.    Any owner scrapping a vessel for which a contri-          categories and the financial resources of the Funds.
 bution has been paid shall receive a scrapping premium
 from the Fund to which his vessel belongs in so far as the
 financial means are available, subject to the conditions          5.    The Commission shall lay down detailed rules for
  set out in Article 6. This scrapping premium shall be           the mutual financial support referred to in Article 5 (2).
  granted only in respect of vessels which the owner proves
  form part of his active fleet.                                   6.    The Commission shall take the decisions referred to
                                                                   in paragraphs 1 to 5 after consulting the Member States
  2.    There shall be mutual financial support as between         and the organizations representing inland waterway
  the various Funds. It shall come into play where a Fund          carriers at Community level.
  cannot meet requests for scrapping premiums through
  lack of financial resources and where other Funds have
                                                                  The decisions reached by the Commission shall also take
  an excess of liquidity since insufficient requests have
                                                                   account of the results of observation of the transport
  been made of them.
                                                                   markets in the Community and of any foreseeable
                                                                   changes therein, as well as of the need to avoid any
                           Article 6                               distortion of competition which is contrary to the
                                                                   common interest.
  1.    The Commission shall lay down separately for dry
  cargo carriers, for tankers and for pusher craft:
                                                                                             Article 7
  — the rate for the annual contributions to the Fund for
^     each vessel;                                                 Without prejudice to the provisions of the Treaty on aids
                                                                   and to the rules adopted in implementation thereof, the
  — the rate for the scrapping premiums;                           Member States concerned may make advance payments,
                                                                   in the form of loans, to the Fund set up in their territory.
  — the period covered by the scrapping programmes,                The sums granted in this way shall be repaid, free of
      during which scrapping premiums will be paid, and            interest, by the Fund, according to a predetermined
      the conditions under which they may be obtained;             schedule.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 297/16                           Official Journal of the European Communities                               22. 11. 88
                         Article 8                                                         Article 9
1.    Throughout the duration of the scrapping schemes           The Member States shall take measures:
decided upon by the Commission in accordance with                — to make it easier for inland waterway carriers leaving
Article 6, vessels covered by this Regulation pursuant to            the trade to obtain an early retirement pension or to
Article 2 which are newly constructed, imported from a               transfer to another economic activity;
third country or exempted under Article 2 (2) (a) may be
brought into service on inland waterways as referred to          — to grant early retirement pensions to workers leaving
in Article 3 only where:                                             the inland waterways as a result of scrapping schemes
                                                                     and to organize vocational training courses or
— the owner of the vessel to be brought into service                 retraining courses.
    scraps a tonnage of carrying capacity equivalent to
                                                                                          Article 10
    the new vessel without receiving a scrapping
    premium;                                                     The Commission shall negotiate, on behalf of the
                                                                 Community, arrangements with Switzerland for the
— or, where the owner scraps no vessel, he pays into             latter to apply measures comparable to the Community
    the Fund covering his new vessel or into the Fund            measures adopted under this Regulation.
    chosen by him in accordance with Article 4, a special
    contribution equal to the scrapping premium fixed                                     Article 11
    for the current scrapping period for a tonnage equal
    to that of the new vessel;                                   1.    By 31 October 1988 Member States shall adopt the
                                                                 measures necessary to implement this Regulation, after
— or, where the owner- scraps a tonnage smaller than             consulting the Commission.
    that of the new vessel to be brought into service, he        These measures shall provide for, inter alia, permanent
    pays into the Fund in question a special contribution        and effective verification of compliance with the obli-
    equivalent to the scrapping premium corresponding            gations imposed on undertakings by this Regulation, of
    at the time to the difference between the tonnage of         the national provisions adopted in implementation
    the new vessel and the tonnage scrapped.                     thereof and of the appropriate penalties in the event of
                                                                 infringement.
These conditions shall not apply to vessels which the
owner proves were under construction on the date on              2.    Throughout the duration of a scrapping scheme
                                                                 Member States shall communicate to the Commission
which the scrapping scheme was instituted.
                                                                 every six months all relevant information on progress
                                                                 with the current scheme and, in particular, on the
2.    In cases where serious structural overcapacity is          financial position of the Fund, the number of
expected to persist in the Community inland waterway             applications to scrap vessels and the tonnage actually
transport sector or on one of its markets, the                   scrapped.
Commission may, after consulting the organizations
representing inland waterway carriers at Community               3.    By 30 November 1988 the Commission shall adopt
level and with the agreement of the Member States                the decisions which it is required to take under Article 6
concerned, decide to increase to up to double the                and, where appropriate, under Article 8 (2).
original values the values for the tonnage to be scrapped
and for the special contributions for bringing new                                        Article 12
capacity into service, as provided for in paragraph 1.
                                                                 This Regulation shall apply from 1 July 1988.
At the same time the Commission shall lay down the               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
period for which this measure is to apply.                       directly applicable in all Member States.