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PURPOSE: to
set out the rules on the international carriage of goods by road. LEGISLATIVE
ACT: Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 of the European Parliament and of the
Council on common rules for access to the international road haulage market. CONTENT: the
Council adopted three regulations that seek to modernise, replace and merge
provisions governing road transport operators and access to the road
transport markets, following a second reading agreement with the European
Parliament under the codecision procedure. These regulations concern: This
Regulation on common rules for access to the international road haulage
market seeks to simplify and harmonise further the current rules by
consolidating and merging Regulations (EC) No 881/92, (EC) No 3118/93 and
Directive 2006/94/EC on access to the road transport market. The main
objective is to eliminate legal uncertainty for Community hauliers and adapt
legislation to market needs. The main
points of the Regulation are as follows: Cabotage: the Regulation provides that any haulier for hire or reward who
is a holder of a Community licence and whose driver, if he is a national of a
third country, holds a driver attestation, shall be entitled, under the
conditions laid down in the text, to carry out cabotage operations. Once the
goods carried in the course of an incoming international carriage have been
delivered, hauliers will be permitted to carry out up to three cabotage
operations following the international carriage from another Member State or from a third country to the host Member State. The last unloading in the
course of a cabotage operation before leaving the host Member State shall take place within 7 days from the last unloading in the host Member State in the course of the incoming international carriage. Hauliers may carry out some or all
of these cabotage operations in any Member State under the condition that
they are limited to one cabotage operation per Member State within 3 days of
the unladen entry into the territory of that Member State. Safeguard
procedure: in the event of serious disturbance of
the national transport market in a given geographical area due to, or
aggravated by, cabotage, any Member State may refer the matter to the
Commission with a view to the adoption of safeguard measures. It must provide
the Commission with the necessary information and notify it of the measures
it intends to take as regards resident hauliers. ‘Serious disturbance of the
national transport market in a given geographical area’ is defined as the
existence on the market of problems specific to it, such that there is a
serious and potentially enduring excess of supply over demand, implying a
threat to the financial stability and survival of a significant number of
hauliers. The Commission
will examine the situation on the basis in particular of the relevant data
and decide within 1 month of receipt of the Member State’s request whether or
not safeguard measures are necessary and shall adopt them if they are necessary.
Such measures may involve the temporary exclusion of the area concerned from
the scope of the Regulation. Safeguard
measures will remain in force for a period not exceeding 6 months, renewable
once within the same limits of validity. If the Commission
decides to adopt safeguard measures concerning one or more Member States, the
competent authorities of the Member States involved shall be required to take
measures of equivalent scope in respect of resident hauliers. The Council may
take a different decision from the Commission under conditions set out in the
text. Sanctioning
of infringements by the Member State of establishment: rules on the withdrawal of the Community licence are clarified and
strengthened. The Regulation provides that in the event of a serious
infringement of Community road transport legislation committed in any
Member State, the Member State of establishment of the haulier who has
committed such infringement shall take the appropriate action which may
include a warning, if provided for by national law, to pursue the matter
which may lead, inter alia, to the imposition of the following administrative
penalties: (a) temporary or permanent withdrawal of some or all of the
certified true copies of the Community licence; (b) temporary or permanent
withdrawal of the Community licence. These
penalties may be determined after the final decision on the matter has been
taken and shall have regard to the seriousness of the infringement committed
by the holder of the Community licence and to the total number of certified
true copies of that licence that he holds in respect of international
traffic. In the event
of a serious infringement regarding any misuse whatsoever of driver
attestations, the Member State of establishment of the haulier who
committed such infringement shall impose appropriate penalties, such as: (a)
suspending the issue of driver attestations; (b) withdrawing driver
attestations; (c) making the issue of driver attestations subject to
additional conditions in order to prevent misuse; (d) withdrawing,
temporarily or permanently, some or all of the certified true copies of the
Community licence; (e) withdrawing, temporarily or permanently, the Community
licence. Member States
should enter in their national electronic register of road transport
undertakings all serious infringements committed by hauliers which have led
to the imposition of a penalty. Report: the Commission shall draw up a report on the state of the
Community road transport market by the end of 2013. The report shall contain
an analysis of the market situation, including an evaluation of the
effectiveness of controls and the evolution of employment conditions in the
profession, as well as an assessment as to whether harmonisation of the rules
in the fields, inter alia, of enforcement and road user charges, as well as
social and safety legislation, has progressed to such an extent that the
further opening of domestic road transport markets, including cabotage, could
be envisaged. ENTRY INTO
FORCE: 04/12/2009. It shall apply from 04/12/2011, with the exception of Articles 8 and 9 (rules applicable to sabotage operations), which shall
apply from 14 May 2010.
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