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) 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 liberalization and phased harmonization of the conditions of competition, subject to "Union" being replaced by "Community"; the general principle of the - 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. 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: Amended proposal for a C O U N C IL R E G U L A T I ON (EC) laying d o wn the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a M e m b er State The Commission proposal in document C O M ( 9 5) 729 final - SYN 96/00022 is amended as follows: Initial C o m m i s s i on 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 hence country establishment. of promote national legislation:" of the gradual approximation and Initial C o m m i s s i on proposal Amended proposal Recital 6 "Whereas establishing the internal market involves the abolition of frontier controls intra- and, consequently, an Community traffic;" increase in is an area Lhe. European Community's "Whereas internal market free the for movement of t>oods. persons, services and 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 passenger governing transport within the Member States:" road 2 OJ No C 60, 29. 02. 96. 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) intercity bus ami coach "Whereas transport the accessibility of systems and in particular the accessibility of services. especially on routes across Europe, is one of the objectives of the common transport policy;" Initial Commission proposal Amended proposal Recital 8 the provisions of "Whereas Member State applicable transport operations should be fixed;" the host to cabotage the provisions of "Whereas the host to cabotage Member State applicable 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;" 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 transport services for hire or reward who: "Any carrier who operates road passenger transport services for hire or reward who: - is established in a Member State, hereinafter referred to as the "Member State of establishment", in accordance with its legislation, and" - is established in a Member State of the Community, where his central offices and main place of business is located, hereinafter referred to as the "Member State of establishment", in accordance with its legislation, and" Initial Commission proposal Amended proposal Article 3 "With effect from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, cabotage transport operations shall be authorized the following services: for "With effect from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, cabotage transport operations shall be authorized the following services: for 1. special regular services and occasional 1. special regular services and occasional services; services; 2. the regular defined in services Article 2( 1 ), provided they are performed in the host by a carrier not resident Member State in the course of a regular international service in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation 684/92; 2. the regular defined in services Article 2( 1 ), provided they are performed by a carrier not resident in the host Member State in the course of a regular international service in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation 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. operations Deleted. transport Cabotage carried out Article 3(2) shall be subject authorization by authorities State. in accordance with to competent the host Member the in 2. Applications for authorization may be refused: (a) that if the competent authorities in State the host Member produce evidence the regular service for which the application perform cabotage operations has been submitted would directly compromise the existence of to (b) regular already services authorized, except in cases in which the regular services in question are carried out only by a single carrier or group of carriers; if the competent authorities in the host Member State produce evidence that the regular service for which the application perform cabotage operations has been submitted is aimed only at the most lucrative of the services existing links concerned. the on to The fact that an operator offers lower prices than are offered by other road carriers or the fact that is already in question the operated by other road carriers may not in itself constitute justification for rejecting the application. link Paragraph 4(a) of Article 7 of Regulation 684/92 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to applications for authorization cabotage operations in the form of the regular services in provided Article 3(2). for of 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. The Member States shall guarantee carriers an opportunity to defend their in the event of rejection of their application for authorization. interests Authorizations shall be issued in the name of the transport undertaking; they may not be transferred by the 3. 4. received latter to third parties. However, the carrier who has the authorization may, with the consent of the competent authority in the host Member State, operate the service through the subcontractor the authorized 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 The in subcontractor must the conditions laid down in Article 1. authorization. provide fulfil the to for the case of undertakings In associaled the purpose of performing cabotage operations in the form of a regular service, the cabotage authorization shall be in the names of all the issued 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. 6. The authorization shall be valid for a maximum of five years and, in any case, for not longer than the the authorization international the framework of which the cabotage operation is carried out. to service within relating take all measures Save in the event of force majeure, the operator of a regular cabotage service shall, until the authorization to expires, guarantee a transport service that fulfils the standards of continuity, the regularity and capacity and 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 less conditions may not be 7. 8. than favourable the conditions applied to regular transport services provided by resident carriers. The authorization or a certified true copy thereof must be kept on board the vehicle. shall, The Commission 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(2) and (3) shall be subject to in Article 3(3) shall be subject to the existing and the 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 and frequency of services. the regularity, continuity be operated and and frequency of services. regulations regulations existing laws, laws, Any compensation obligations must be paid for public service Any compensation for public to all the obligations must be paid to all service the I Community operators concerned. " Community operators concerned. " Initial Commission proposal Amended proposal Article 6 Article 7 Article 8 Article 9 Article 10 Article 11 Article 12 Article 5 Article 6 Article 7 Article 8 Article 9 Article 10 Article 11 10 Initial Commission proposal Amended proposal Article 13 Article 12 to report the "The Commission shall report the "The Commission shall 31 and Parliament Council before 31 December 1999 on the Council in December 1999 on the application of this application of this Regulation and, impact of cabotage Regulation and, in particular, on the impact particular, on transport operations on national transport of cabotage transport operations on national markets. " transport markets. " to before the Initial Commission proposal Amended proposal Article 14 Article 15 Article 13 Article 14 The remainder of the text is unchanged. Done at Brussels, For the Council ii 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 L-2985 Luxembourg