CELEX: 51983PC0405
Language: en
Date: 1983-07-01
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON FUEL RATIONING FOR COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT BETWEEN THE MEMBER STATES

No C 195/4                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 22. 7. 83
                                                             II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                               COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Directive on fuel rationing for commercial transport between the
                                                      Member'States
                              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 11 July 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                      structural and capacity reasons, to provide a full
COMMUNITIES,                                                     range of alternative transport operations if the
                                                                 available road transport capacity were unable to meet
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                     demand;
European Economic Community, and in particular
Articles 75 and 103 thereof,                                     Whereas any difficulty — even of short duration —
                                                                 reducing the supply of fuel for road transport
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               purposes could seriously disrupt economic activity
                                                                 within the Community and it is therefore essential to
Having regard to the opinion of the              European        be able at any time to compensate for, or at least
Parliament,                                                      reduce, the damaging effects of such an eventuality;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                Whereas it is essential to guarantee under all circum-
Social Committee,                                                stances that the principle of equal treatment between
                                                                 domestic and other carriers is adhered to in every
                                                                 Member State;
Whereas, in Directive 73/238/EEC of 24 July
1973 ('), the Council laid down the procedures and
instruments intended to coordinate and quickly to               Whereas it is essential to provide in advance pro-
implement measures likely to mitigate the effects of             cedures and instruments appropriate to the transport
difficulties in the supply of crude oil and petroleum            sector and, in particular, road transport between
products, and set up a consultative body to facilitate           Member States, enabling the Community, in
coordination of the measures planned or taken by the            pursuance of Directive 73/238/EEC of 24 July 1973
Member States in this field;                                     and in line, where appropriate, with Council
                                                                Decisions 77/186/EEC of 14 February 1977 on the
Whereas, in its resolution of 15 October 1981 on                exporting of crude oil and petroleum products from
ways and means of effecting savings in the transport            one Member State to another in the event of supply
sector (2), Parliament invited the Commission to draw           difficulties (3) and 77/706/EEC of 7 November 1977
up without delay an energency plan to deal with a               on the setting of a Community target for a reduction
serious energy crisis in order to ensure, on the basis          in the consumption of primary sources of energy in
of Community criteria, the fairest distribution of              the event of difficulties in the supply of crude oil
scarce fuel between various transport sectors taking            and petroleum products (4) to ensure rapid
into account the demands of the economy, trade and              implementation of the measures intended to mitigate
goods traffic;                                                  the effects of difficulties in the supply of fuel for road
                                                                transport;
Whereas oil and petroleum products supply almost all
of the energy needs of transport in the Community               Whereas, to this end, it is possible to alleviate the
and the carriage of goods and passengers by road                difficulties specific to road transport which could
depends on these entirely:                                      result from fuel rationing imposed by one or more
                                                                Member States by means of a Community approach
                                                                defining procedures in advance and by means of
Whereas in the event of difficulties in the supply of           systematic consultation between Member States;
fuel for road transport, the other transport modes,
and in particular the railways, would not be able, for
(') OJ No L 228, 16. 8. 1973, p. 1.                             O OJ No L 61, 5. 3. 1977, p. 23.
(2) OJ No C 287, 9. 11. 1981, p. 66.                            (4) OJ No L 292, 16. 11. 1977, p. 9.
 ---pagebreak--- 22.7.83                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 195/5
Whereas advance planning of the procedure to be                non-domestic carriers access to fuel under the same
followed in the event of fuel rationing presupposes            conditions as those applying to domestic carriers.
the adoption by all Member States of a standard
application form for the issue of fuel coupons for
cross-frontier transport operations;
                                                                                         Article 3
                                                               1.     Member States taking rationing measures may
Whereas it is for the Member States, while complying           limit refuelling on their territory by non-domestic
with the provisions of Directive 73/238/EEC and,               carriers to transport operations which meet the
where appropriate, of Decisions 77/186/EEC and                 following conditions:
77/706/EEC, to decide when fuel rationing should
be introduced and what priorities, if any, should be
applied as regards the issue of fuel coupons;                  — that they are transport operations between
                                                                    Member States and are permitted                under
                                                                    Community measures or bilateral agreements,
Whereas systematic concerted action between
Member States is needed in order to tackle the
difficulties in the refuelling of road transport and to        — that the information required on the fuel
ensure the continuity of road transport between                     application form, a specimen of which is
Member States in the event of a crisis; whereas such                contained in the Annex, is provided.
concerted action must be based on the principle of
equal treatment of domestically-owned and other
vehicles and consultation procedures capable of
                                                               They may, however, debar from such refuelling
facilitating coodination of the practical measures
                                                               arrangements belonging to non-resistant carriers per-
taken or envisaged in this field by the Member States
                                                               forming border transport operations, i.e. services to
should now be laid down;
                                                               destinations on their territory within 50 kilometres of
                                                               the border.
Whereas it is not necessary to include border traffic,
since this can be refuelled in its country of origin,
within the scope of this Directive,                            2.     Member States making use of the facility
                                                               provided for in paragraph 1 shall apply the pro-
                                                               cedures laid down in the Annex, including the use of
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                    the fuel application form.
                         Article 1                                                       Article 4
 1.    The aim of this Directive is to guarantee, in the       Proof that the first of the conditions laid down in
event of difficulties in the supply of oil and petroleum       Article 3(1) has been met may be provided:
products in at least one Member State, that non-
domestic carriers performing transport operations by
road between Member States or crossing their                   — as regards carriage of goods for hire or reward,
 territory in transit shall have access to fuel supplies            by the CMR papers, together, where appropriate,
 under the same conditions as those applying to                     with the Community or bilateral authorization,
 domestic carriers.
                                                               — as regards own-account carriage of goods, by any
 2.     For the purposes of this Directive 'transport by            document showing that a given transport
 road between Member States' means the carriage of                  operation fulfils the conditions of the first Council
 goods by road by commerciel vehicles and the                       Directive of 23 July 1962 on the establishment of
 carriage of passengers by road by buses and coaches                common rules, for certain types of carriage of
 with a least 10 seats passengers including the driver's            goods by road between Member States (*),
 seat.
                                                                — as regards passenger transport, in the case of
 3.    This Directive shall apply to vehicles registered            occasional services by the control document, and
 in the Member States.                                              in the case of shuttle or regular services by the
                                                                    authorization.
                          Article 2
 In the event of a fuel shortage which does not
 warrant rationing, Member States shall guarantee               (') OJ No 70, 6. 8. 1962, p. 2005/62.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 195/6                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                 22. 7. 83
                          Article 5                                  2.    A State intending to take such measures must:
                                                                     — in the case of transport operations covered by
 1.   Member States shall notify the Commission in                       Community rules, give prior notice to the
advance of the measures they intend to adopt in                          Commission, which will then hold the consul-
pursuance of Articles 2 and 3.                                           tations provided for in Article 5 and address
                                                                         proposals on appropriate measures to the Council,
                                                                         which will act by a qualified majority,
2.    The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
                                                                     — in the case of transport operations carried out
coordinated by the group of delegates provided for in
                                                                         under bilateral agreements, give prior notice to
Article 3 of Directive 73/238/EEC.
                                                                         the Member States concerned and to the
                                                                         Commission, which may, at the request of those
                                                                         States or on its own initiative, proceed with the
                         Article 6                                       consultations provided for in Article 5.
                                                                                              Article 7
1.    In the event of a serious crisis, any Member
State which introduces rationing by fuel coupons and                 After consulting the Commission the Member States
is no longer able to provide refuelling for all the                  shall take the measures needed to comply with this
transport operations covered by this Directive may be                Directive at the latest on 1 July 1984. They shall
selective in issuing such coupons. This selectivity,                 forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
however, must be based on objective criteria and
comply with the principle of equal treatment for                                              Article 8
domestic and non-domestic carriers.                                  This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                            ANNEX
                                                 FUEL APPLICATION FORM
             I. COMMENTS ON THE FUEL APPLICATION FORM
             1. The form is in the official language or languages of the State where rationing is in force.
             2. The form is pink in colour.
             3. The dimensions of the form are: 43 cm x 30,5 cm (DIN A3).
             4. Each form is made up in triplicate:
                — the top copy for the authorities at the frontier crossing on the inward journey which issue the
                    fuel coupons,
                — the second to be kept by the driver, and
                — the third for the authorities at the frontier crossing on the outward journey,
                so that in connection with each transport operation in a country in which rationing is in force:
                — the office on the inward journey may have a copy for use as a control document in any
                    subsequent checks,
                — the office on the outward journey can use the second copy to keep track of the fuel allocated
                    and actually used for the transport operation on its own territory by a non-domestic vehicle,
                — the driver may have a document which, if necessary on his return, he can send to the
                    responsible authorities in his country.
             5. The form is in four parts, each having a specific destination:
                — Part 1 is to be completed by the driver of the vehicle at the frontier post on the journey into
                    the country where fuel rationing is in force,
 ---pagebreak--- 22.7.83                           Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n Communities                     N o C 195/7
            — Part 2 is to be completed by the office allocating the fuel coupons,
            — Part 3 is for recording each time additional fuel is supplied,
            — Part 4 is to be completed by the driver of the vehicle at the frontier post on the outward
                journey and validated at the post.
        II. C O M M O N PROVISIONS GOVERNING T H E USE OF T H E FORM
        A. General
        The form must be used to apply to the responsible authorities in the country where rationing is in
        force for the fuel needed by a non-domestic vehicle in order to carry out a transport operation
        within that country or to cross it in transit.
        The application must be lodged with the frontier post authorities when the vehicle enters a country
        where rationing is in force.
        Where successive unforeseen changes in destination — and therefore route — require additional
        fuel, two additional applications may be lodged with the responsible authorities within the country
        in which rationing is in force.
        Fuel coupons may only be used for the route and vehicle for which they have been requested. It is
        strictly prohibited to hand them over to other persons for other purposes.
        B. Part 1 of the form
        Part 1 of the form is to be filled in and signed by the driver of the vehicle and must be handed to
        the responsible authorities before fuel coupons are issued at the frontier crossing into the country in
        which rationing is in force.
        C. Part 2 of the form
        After checking that Part 1 of the form has been correctly filled in by the driver, the responsible
        authorities must state, in Part 2 of the form, the number of coupons and the amount of fuel issued,
        stamp and sign the form and ask the driver to sign for the coupons.
        Once this has taken place, the authorities issuing the coupons will keep a copy of the form thus
        completed.
        D. Part 3 of the form
        Each time the vehicle is refuelled the driver enters — in Part 3 of the form — the date, number of
        kilometres on the clock, quantity bought (in litres) and number of coupons handed over. He then
        has the person in charge of the filling station stamp the form in the space provided for the purpose.
        E. Part 4 of the form
        At the point of exit from the country, the driver completes Part 4 of the form by filling in the
        number of kilometres on the clock at the point of entry and the point of exit (in order to indicate
        the distance covered in the country), the amount of fuel in the fuel tank (in litres) at the point of
        entry and the point of exit, and the number of fuel coupons received, used and surrendered.
        After recovering the unused coupons, the responsible authorities at the frontier post at the point of
        exit sign and stamp the form as proof of receipt and keep one copy of the form.
                                                             (Recto)
                                             FUEL APPLICATION FORM
                                                        Explanatory note
                                                              Part 1
          1. Type of transport operation: the driver must state whether he is carrying passengers or goods.
          2. Status of journey: the driver must state whether the journey is made with or without
             authorization and in the former case state its nature (bilateral, Community, etc.).
 ---pagebreak--- No C 195/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   22. 7. 83
            3. Vehicle information: the driver must state:
                  (i) the type and model;
                 (ii) the engine rating in kW and the cylinder capacity in cm 5 ;
                (iii) the maximum authorized vehicle or train weight in tonnes;
                (iv) the registration number of the tractor or lorry and that of the trailer or semi-trailer if this
                      differs from that of the tractor or lorry.
            4. Destination and probable route: the driver must state at the frontier post where the vehicle enters
                a country in which fuel rationing is in force:
                  (i) the number of kilometres on the clock when the vehicle enters the country in which
                      rationing is in force;
                 (ii) an estimate, in litres, of the amount of fuel contained in the vehicle's tank on entry into the
                      country in which rationing is in force;
                (iii) whether he is travelling in transit without loading or unloading in order solely to reach a
                      destination in another country;
                (iv) the destination of the journey in the country in which rationing is in force;
                 (v) in the case of multiple destinations, the various points of loading and unloading in the
                      country in which rationing is in force.
            5. Type of fuel: the driver must state whether he is applying for petrol, diesel fuel or mixed fuel.
            6. Trade name and registered office of company: the driver must give the name and christian name,
                or the trade name, of the carrier and his address.
            7. Distance to be covered: the driver must provide an estimate in kilometres of the distance to be
                covered in order to carry out his transport operation in the country in which rationing is in
                force.
            8. Average consumption per 100 kilometres: the driver must provide an estimate, in litres, of the
                average consumption per 100 kilometres of his vehicle under the load conditions in which he
                entered the country and will continue his journey.
            9. Amount of fuel requested: the driver must state the amount of fuel requested, in litres, which,
                with a certain safety margin, must correspond to the number of kilometres intended to be
                covered in order to carry out the transport operation at the fuel consumption (in terms of litres
                per 100 kilometres) stated for his vehicle.
           10. Driver of the vehicle: the driver must provide general personal information, i. e. his surname and
                first name, home address and passport number. He must then sign all the statements he has
                made, adding the place and date.
           11. Additional applications for fuel: where additional applications become necessary for reasons not
                foreseen when a vehicle enters a country in which rationing is in force — as a result of an
                accident or successive changes in the distances to be travelled, additional fuel may be allocated.
                In this case the driver must provide general personal information, i. e. give his surname and first
                name, the number of kilometres on the clock and the number of litres requested and must then
                sign the application and add the place and date.
           12. Replacement driver: if a driver is replaced, the replacement driver must give his surname and
                first name, his home address, passport number and the number of kilometres on the clock when
                he takes up his duties, and at the same time state the number of coupons and the equivalent in
                litres that he receives from the previous driver. Both drivers must also sign the form and add the
                place and date.
                                                               Part 2
           This part must be completed by the responsible authorities in the country where fuel rationing is in
           force. After checking that Part 1 of the form has been filled in correctly by the driver, they must
           state in this part how much fuel has been allocated and the equivalent number of coupons. They
           must then stamp the form and add their signature and the date of issue of the coupons.
 ---pagebreak--- 22.7.83                           Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n Communities                    N o C 195/9
        The driver signs for the coupons he has received.
        Thereafter, the responsible authorities keep a copy of the form and on additional applications repeat
        the same operation in the two sections of Part 2 provided for the purpose.
                                                              Part 3
        Each time he takes on fuel the driver enters in this part the date, number of kilometres on the clock,
        number of litres of fuel bought and number of coupons exchanged.
        He then asks the person in charge of the service station to stamp the form and to add the place of
        refuelling, his signature and the date.
                                                              Part 4
        At the frontier post on the journey out of the country in which rationing is in force, the driver must
        complete Part 4 by stating the distance covered within the country by giving the number of
        kilometres on the clock at the times of entry and exit, together with the content (in litres) of the
        fuel tank at the entry and exit points, and also the number of fuel coupons received, used and
        surrendered.
        The responsible authorities at the exit frontier post must collect any unused fuel coupons, and
        acknowledge receipt of these by means of a stamp and signature.
        They will then keep a copy of the form.