The European Parliament approved, in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, the Council's position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EC) No 1071/2009, (EC) No 1072/2009 and (EU) No 1024/2012 with a view to adapting them to developments in the road transport sector.

The objective of the proposed Regulation is to modernise the rules governing admission to the occupation of road transport operator and access to the road transport market with a view to ensuring the proper functioning of the single market in the road transport sector.

The draft legislative act:

- provides that the use of light commercial vehicles over 2.5 tonnes shall also be subject to the Union rules applicable to carriers, in particular as regards the installation of a tachograph to record each border crossing;

- allows a better fight against ‘letter-box’ companies: road transport undertakings should be able to demonstrate that they have a significant volume of business in the Member State where they are registered. Lorries shall also have to return to the company's operational centre every eight weeks;

- introduces a transitional period of four days in order to combat systematic cabotage during which no further cabotage operations would be allowed in the same Member State with the same vehicle;

- includes additional elements in the national electronic registers and introduces specific provisions to improve administrative cooperation between Member States;

- obliges Member States to lay down rules subjecting consignors, freight forwarders, contractors and subcontractors to sanctions in cases where they knew that the performance of the transport services commissioned was in breach of the Regulation.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the recommendation for second reading contained in the report by Ismail ERTUG (S&D, DE) on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EC) No 1071/2009, (EC) No 1072/2009 and (EU) No 1024/2012 with a view to adapting them to developments in the road transport sector.

The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament approve the Council's position at first reading without amendment.

The Council's position at first reading is in line with the provisional Agreement reached in the interinstitutional negotiations. The overall Agreement reached by Parliament with the Council has further strengthened the proposal with a view to ensuring balanced conditions of fair competition and rigorous enforcement. In particular, the following was agreed:

Fight against letter-box companies

The Agreement reinforces and clarifies the provisions relating to the existence of an effective and stable establishment of a genuine business presence so that a real link with the Member State of establishment can be demonstrated. These include requirements relating to the presence of the vehicles used by the transport operator in the Member State of establishment (once every eight weeks) and to the drivers' normal place of employment.

Inclusion of light commercial vehicles

Light commercial vehicles used exclusively for national transport operations and very small light commercial vehicles (less than 2.5 tonnes) are excluded from the scope. Light commercial vehicles that are included in the scope shall be subject to rules similar to those for heavy commercial vehicles in order to ensure fair conditions of competition.

Cabotage

The current regime for cabotage has been maintained. However, a ‘cooling off’ period of 4 days has been introduced in order to combat systematic cabotage during which no further cabotage operations in that specific Member State are allowed. A Member State may apply the same rules to combined transport road journeys on its territory.

Administrative cooperation

Specific provisions have been adopted to improve administrative cooperation between Member States, to collect more relevant data on transport undertakings in national electronic registers and to allow easier access to these registers during roadside checks, to check more regularly if licensing requirements are still being complied with, in particular through on-the-spot inspections, and to focus the scarce national enforcement capacity on high-risk companies;

Liability

The Agreement introduces co-liability in the supply chain in order to strengthen the accountability of the upstream actors in the supply chain. Member States shall thus establish rules subjecting consignors, freight forwarders, contractors and subcontractors to sanctions in cases where they knew that the performance of the transport services commissioned was in breach of the Regulation.

The European Parliament adopted by 371 votes to 251 with 13 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) 1071/2009 and Regulation (EC) 1072/2009 with a view to adapting them to developments in the sector.

The proposal aims to improve the single market for road transport by means of amendments designed to eliminate the causes of disparities and to ensure better enforcement of the rules. It is part of an on-going review that is more broadly focused on road transport legislation.

Parliament’s position adopted at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure amends the Commission proposal as follows:

Scope

Vehicles whose permissible laden mass does not exceed 3.5 tonnes ('light commercial vehicles') will be included within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 on access to the occupation of road transport operator.

Members proposed to exclude from the scope of the Regulation: (i) very light vehicles with a permissible laden mass of less than 2.4 tonnes; (ii) light vehicles with a permissible laden mass lower than 3.5 tonnes that are engaged exclusively in national transport operations.

Any carriage by road the purpose of which is not to generate any profit for the driver or others, such as where the service is provided on a charitable or philanthropic basis, is to be considered as carriage exclusively for non-commercial purposes.

Requirements for the occupation of road transport operator

Light commercial vehicles, which are increasingly used by operators to provide transport services, should comply with EU standards for transport operators.

With regard to these vehicles, four requirements should apply, namely the criteria for establishing a permanent and effective establishment in a Member State, good repute, financial capacity and professional competence, as well of as the obligation to obtain a Community license. Member States must carry out checks at least every three years to ensure that undertakings meet these requirements.

Conditions relating to the requirement of establishment

In order to combat the phenomenon of letterbox companies (i.e. companies registered in one Member State, in order, for example, to reduce costs related to tax rules, where the main activity is carried out in another Member State), road transport undertakings established in a Member State must have a real and permanent presence in that Member State, effectively manage their transport activities and carry out substantial activities from that Member State.

Members proposed to strengthen the requirements regarding the establishment of a real business presence while avoiding a disproportionate administrative burden, and to complement the data to be inserted in national electronic registers in order to get a fuller picture of the ownership of a company. National electronic registers must be truly interoperable and the data they contain must be accessible directly and in real time to all designated law enforcement officials from all Member States.

Cabotage

In order to prevent cabotage operations (national transport performed on a temporary basis by non-resident hauliers in a host Member State) from being carried out systematically to perform national operations, Members proposed to limit the time for which cabotage operations is allowed to be performed.

Parliament wants companies to be allowed to make deliveries to another EU country for 3 days after a cross-border delivery in order to avoid 'empty journeys'. Following the end of the 3-day period, hauliers shall not be permitted to carry out with the same vehicle, cabotage operations in the same host Member State within 60 hours after the return to the haulier’s Member State of establishment.

Improving monitoring and checks

Members considered that real and effective control of the application of the rules is a prerequisite for fair competition in the internal market. They suggested encouraging the use of the smart tachograph to detect infringements and anomalies more quickly and to increase the exchange of good practice and training between Member States regarding monitoring the enforcement of the rules.

The Community licence shall be issued by a Member State to any haulier carrying goods by road for hire or reward who carries out international transport carriage with vehicles equipped with a smart tachograph.

Member States must take accompanying measures to promote exchanges between officials in charge of the administrative cooperation and mutual assistance between Member States as well as those in charge of monitoring the compliance with, and enforcement of, the applicable rules of the Regulation.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the report by Ismail ERTUG (S&D, DE) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) 1071/2009 and Regulation (EC) 1072/2009 with a view to adapting them to developments in the sector.

The proposal aims to improve the single market for road transport by means of amendments designed to eliminate the causes of disparities and to ensure better enforcement of the rules. It is part of an on-going review that is more broadly focused on road transport legislation.

The committee recommended that the position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading in the framework of the ordinary legislative procedure amend the Commission proposal as follows:

Scope : the Commission proposed to include in the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 on access to the occupation of road transport operator, vehicles whose permissible laden mass does not exceed 3.5 tonnes ('light commercial vehicles').

Members proposed to exclude from the scope of the Regulation: (i) very light vehicles with a permissible laden mass of less than 2.4 tonnes ; (ii) light vehicles with a permissible laden mass lower than 3.5 tonnes that are engaged exclusively in national transport operations .

Any carriage by road the purpose of which is not to generate any profit for the driver or others, such as where the service is provided on a charitable or philanthropic basis, is to be considered as carriage exclusively for non-commercial purposes.

Requirements for the occupation of road transport operator : as regards light commercial vehicles, Members considered that the four requirements should apply, namely the criteria for establishing a permanent and effective establishment in a Member State, of good repute, financial capacity and professional competence, as well of as the obligation to obtain a Community license. Member States must carry out checks at least every three years to ensure that undertakings meet these requirements.

Conditions relating to the requirement of establishment : in order to combat the phenomenon of letterbox companies (i.e. companies registered in one Member State, in order, for example, to reduce costs related to tax rules, where the main activity is carried out in another Member State), road transport undertakings established in a Member State must have a real and permanent presence in that Member State, effectively manage their transport activities and carry out substantial activities from that Member State.

Members proposed to strengthen and to clarify the requirements regarding the establishment of a real business presence and to complement the data to be inserted in national electronic registers in order to get a fuller picture of the ownership of a company. National electronic registers must be truly interoperable and the data contained therein be accessible directly and in real time to all designated law enforcement officials from all Member States.

Cabotage : in order to prevent cabotage operations from being carried out systematically to perform national operations, Members proposed to define more precisely what exactly encompasses an international transport operation giving right to cabotage, by including, for example, the value of the international operation contract. In addition, they proposed to limit the time for which cabotage operations is allowed to be performed , in order to underline its temporary character.

Furthermore, the amended text provided that hauliers will not be allowed to carry out new cabotage operations in the same host Member State within a certain time period and until they have performed a new international carriage originating from the Member State where the undertaking is established.

Improving monitoring and checks : Members considered that real and effective control of the application of the rules is a prerequisite for fair competition in the internal market. They proposed to strengthen the provisions on administrative cooperation and enforcement . They also suggested encouraging the use of the smart tachograph to detect infringements and anomalies more quickly and to increase the exchange of good practice and training between Member States regarding monitoring the enforcement of the rules.

International carriage shall be carried out subject to the possession of a smart tachograph, a Community licence and, if the driver is a national of a third country, in conjunction with a driver attestation.

PURPOSE: to improve the single market in road transport through amendments intended to eliminate causes for disparities and to ensure better enforcement of the rules.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Commission.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with Council.

BACKGROUND: currently, two Regulations are in place with the general objective of supporting the good functioning, efficiency and competitiveness of the single market in road transport:

Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 lays down the provisions that undertakings must comply with, in order to access the occupation of road transport operator (passenger and freight); Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 lays down the provisions that undertakings intending to operate on the international road haulage market and on national markets other than their own (cabotage) must comply with.

Experience with the implementation of these Regulations revealed that the rules provided for in those regulations offered scope for improvement on a number of points.

The proposal is part of a broader ongoing review of the road transport legislation. It is closely linked to other existing legal acts concerning road transport, in particular the social legislation for road transport ( Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 , Directive 2002/15/EC , Directive 2006/22/EC and Regulation (EU) 165/2014.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the preferred option combines substantive changes in the rules on cabotage and establishment, with a partial extension of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 to light vehicles.

This option is estimated to generate savings for businesses in the range of EUR 2.7-5.2 billion for the EU-28 in 2020-2035. Infringements of cabotage rules should be reduced by up to 62% and the formation of letterbox companies should be reduced by around 10%.

CONTENT: the proposal aims to amend Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 on access to the occupation of road transport operator and Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 on access to the international road transport market. The main amendments are as follows:

Requirements for engagement in the occupation of road transport operator : the Commission proposes:

to include in the scope of the Regulation vehicles the permissible laden mass of which does not exceed 3.5 tonnes (‘light commercial vehicles’): requirements on the transport manager, good repute, professional competence and obligations related to those requirements are not proposed as mandatory, but Member States would keep the possibility of applying them as hitherto. By contrast, the requirements regarding effective and stable establishment and appropriate financial standing are proposed to apply to such hauliers in all Member States; to clarify provisions to ensure that undertakings established in a Member State have a real and continuous activity there; to clarify and further harmonise the assessment of good repute and to extend the list of infringements which may lead to loss of good repute. Serious infringements of national tax rules are taken into account in the assessment of the good repute of the transport manager or transport undertaking, as are serious infringements of EU rules on the posting of workers and the law applicable to contractual obligations; to set out the means by which undertakings may prove their financial standing in the absence of certified annual accounts, in order to enable the assessment of compliance with this criterion by enforcers, in particular for newly created undertakings which have no certified accounts yet; to clarify the position of competent authorities where undertakings no longer comply with the requirement of financial standing; to specify that, after having lost good repute, a transport manager cannot be rehabilitated by the competent authority earlier than one year from the date of loss of good repute; to add elements of information to be included in the national electronic registers to allow better enforcement of the rules on access to the profession.

Access to the international road transport market Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 : the Commission proposes to specify:

that the carriage of empty containers or pallets is to be considered as a carriage for hire and reward only if it is subject to a transport contract between a consignee and a consignor; that a cabotage operation can involve several loading points, several delivery points or several loading and delivery points.

Until now, EU rules allowed for 3 cabotage operations within 7 days of the international delivery. The new rules will allow for unlimited cabotage operations within 5 days of the international delivery.

Member States must carry out a minimum amount of checks of compliance with the cabotage provisions (i.e. 2% of cabotage operations from 1 January 2020 and 3% from 1 January 2022).

DELEGATED ACTS: the proposal contains provisions empowering the Commission to adopt delegated acts in accordance with the provisions of Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.