Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles travelling in Switzerland
C 248 E/108 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 29. 8. 2000 Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation on the distribution of permits for heavy goods vehicles travelling in Switzerland (1) (2000/C 248 E/06) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(2000) 117 final - 1999/0022(COD) (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty on 1 March 2000) (1) OJ C 114, 27. 4. 1999, p. 4. The proposal made by the Commission in COM(1999) 35 final - COD 1999/0022 is hereby amended as follows INITIAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and, in particular, Article 75 thereof, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and, in particular, Article 71 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Unchanged Having regard to the opinion of Committee, the Economic and Social Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 189c of the Treaty, Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, Whereas: Unchanged Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions, (1) By Council Decision No. the European Community has concluded an Agreement with the Confederation of Swit- zerland on the transport of goods and passengers by rail and road. (2) That Agreement provides for a system of permits to allow heavy goods vehicles to circulate on Swiss territory with weights in excess of that normally permitted in that country. (3) That Agreement also provides for a system of permits for empty and light goods vehicles to circulate on Swiss territory at reduced charges. (4) It is necessary to establish rules governing the distribution and management of the permits which are made available to the Community. (5) For practical and management reasons, those permits should be made available to the Member States by the Commission. (6) To that end, an allocation method should be established. the in Thereafter, should share out amounts allocated to them among undertakings accordance with objective criteria. the Member States (7) In order to ensure the optimal use of permits, all unal- located permits should be returned to the Commission for redistribution. 29. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 248 E/109 INITIAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL (8) The allocation of permits should be based on criteria that take full account of existing transport flows across the Alpine region. (8) The allocation of permits should be based on criteria that take full account of existing freight transport flows and genuine transport needs across the Alpine region. (9) That allocation may have to be revised in the light of new In carrying out such revisions, the statistical evidence. Commission shall be assisted by a Committee. (10) Implementing measures have to be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 exercise of laying implementing powers conferred on the Commission (1), down the procedures the for HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Unchanged Article 1 for This Regulation lays down the rules the distribution between the Member States of permits available to the Community by virtue of Articles 8 and 40(3)(b) of the Agreement between the European Community and the Confed- transport of goods and eration of Switzerland on the passengers by rail and road (hereinafter referred to as The Agreementí). Article 2 For the purposes of this Regulation: 1. 2. áfull-weight permití shall mean a permit issued under Article 8 of the Agreement allowing goods vehicles to circulate on Swiss territory at weights up to a maximum of 40 tonnes; áempty permití shall mean a permit issued under Article 40 of the Agreement allowing goods vehicles that are empty or are transporting light loads, as defined in Annex 11 to the Agreement, to circulate on Swiss territory at a special tariff, as laid down in Article 40 of the Agreement. Article 3 The Commission shall allocate permits in accordance 1. with paragraphs 2 to 5. The full-weight permits shall be allocated in accordance 2. with Annex I. The empty permits shall be allocated in accordance with 3. Annex II. The permits for each year shall be allocated before 15 4. November of the preceding year. The permits for each year shall be allocated before 15 4. August of the preceding year. ___________ (1) OJ C 114, 27. 4. 1999, p. 4. C 248 E/110 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 29. 8. 2000 INITIAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL 5. The number of permits allocated for the first year of implementation of the Agreement shall be adjusted pro rata if the Agreement has entered into force after 1 January of that year. Unchanged Article 4 Member States shall distribute permits amongst the under- takings established in their territory according to objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Article 5 Before 15 November each year, Member States shall transfer to the Commission those permits for that year which have not been allocated to undertakings. Before 15 September each year, Member States shall transfer to the Commission those permits for that year which have not been allocated to undertakings. The Commission shall allocate those permits in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7 to one or more Member States in order to ensure an optimal use of those permits. Unchanged Article 6 The Commission shall carry out a detailed survey before 1 to provide accurate statistics on January 2000 in order bilateral and transit traffic flows of heavy goods vehicles in the Alpine region, notably as regards the origin and destination of the vehicles and their Member State of registration. On the basis of the survey, the Commission shall recalculate the allocations in accordance with the methodology laid down in Annex III. Should the recalculation result in an allocation for any Member State which differs from that set out in Annexes I and II by more than 5 %, but by at least 500 permits, any amendments necessary to adapt Annexes I and II shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7. Article 7 The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee 1. composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission. Deleted to be the measures the Commission shall submit The representative of to the taken. The Committee a draft of Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time-limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the represen- tatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote. set out 29. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 248 E/111 INITIAL PROPOSAL AMENDED PROPOSAL The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee. the measures envisaged are not If in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority. If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7(3) and Article 8 thereof. The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision 3. 1999/468/EC shall be three months. The European Parliament 4. shall be informed by the Commission of Committee proceedings on a regular basis, pursuant to Article 7(3) of the Decision. The principles and conditions on public access to documents applicable to the Commission shall apply to the Committee Article 8 Unchanged This Regulation shall enter into force on the same day as the Agreement. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. C 248 E/112 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 29. 8. 2000 ANNEX I Scale for allocating full-weight permits The quantity of full-weight permits as laid down in Article 8 of the Agreement shall be allocated by the Commission to the Member States as follows: Full weight permits available in years Member State 2000 2001 and 2002 2003 and 2004 Belgium Denmark Germany Greece Spain France Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Austria Portugal Finland Sweden United Kingdom 16 609 2 919 88 378 1 882 3 772 38 490 1 963 50 349 3 342 19 477 9 588 1 710 3 035 3 193 5 293 19 930 3 231 107 472 1 966 4 272 46 620 2 065 61 085 3 747 23 428 11 365 1 756 3 372 3 565 6 127 26 571 3 854 145 660 2 134 5 271 62 879 2 269 82 557 4 556 31 329 14 920 1 848 4 047 4 309 7 795 Total 250 000 300 000 400 000 29. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 248 E/113 ANNEX II Scale for allocating empty permits The quantity of empty permits as laid down in Article 40 of and Annex 11 to the Agreement shall be allocated by the Commission to the Member States as follows: Empty permits available annually Member States 2000-2004 Belgium Denmark Germany Greece Spain France Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Austria Portugal Finland Sweden United Kingdom 14 718 2 750 62 788 6 160 1 584 10 714 198 85 448 2 200 22 968 1 760 264 836 550 7 062 Total 220 000 C 248 E/114 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 29. 8. 2000 ANNEX III Methodology for determining the allocation of permits The allocation of the permits shall take place on the basis of the following methodology: Full-weight permits A basic allocation of 1 500 permits will be made to each Member State. The remaining permits will be allocated in equal parts on the basis of criteria relating to transit traffic and on the basis of criteria relating to bilateral traffic. Bilateral traffic The allocation will take place on the basis of the shares of heavy vehicles registered in the Member States in bilateral road transport to and from Switzerland. Transit traffic The allocation will take place on the basis of the shares of heavy vehicles registered in the Member States in the total number of diverted kilometres in north-south trans-Alpine road traffic as a result of the current weight restrictions in Switzerland. Diverted mileage will be calculated as the difference between the actual distance of trans-Alpine journeys and the shortest distance through Switzerland. The mileages through Switzerland will be adjusted to take into account border delays and road traffic conditions by means of an addition of 60 kilometres. For those Member States where the above method leads to less than 200 permits, the allocation will be established at a level of 200 permits. Empty permits The empty permits will be allocated on the basis of the shares of vehicles registered in the Member States in the transit traffic through Switzerland of vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes. The figures in Annexes I and II are based on the above methodology, available statistics and a number of assumptions where no statistics were available. The available statistics and the assumptions will be replaced by the results of the survey when the Commission recalculates Annexes I and II. Survey The survey will generate the following data: The origin and destination and the Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of trans-Alpine transit traffic by vehicles with a laden weight above 28 tonnes, via the Brenner and the Mt Blanc tunnel. The origin and destination and the Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of bilateral traffic by vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes with origin or destination in Switzerland. The Member State of registration of the vehicle of a representative sample of transit traffic journeys by road through Switzerland of vehicles with a laden weight between 7,5 and 28 tonnes