PURPOSE: to repeal obsolete Regulations in the area of transport.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: this proposal for repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89, Regulations (EC) No 2888/2000 and (EC) No 685/2001 is submitted in the context of the Commission's REFIT programme and commitment on better regulation.
The objective is to ensure a legislative framework that is fit for purpose and of high quality, as referred to in the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on Better Law-Making.
CONTENT: the proposal seeks to repeal Council Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89, Regulations (EC) No 2888/2000 and (EC) No 685/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council:
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 introduced arrangements for structural improvements in the inland waterway sector for the fleets operating on the linked inland waterway networks of Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria. The objective of that Regulation was to reduce overcapacity in the inland waterway fleets by means of vessel-scrapping schemes coordinated at Community level. On 29 March 1999, Council Regulation (EC) No 718/1999 on a Community-fleet capacity policy to promote inland waterway transport was adopted in order to ensure that the appropriate tools continued to be available to the inland waterway transport sector and to manage the fleet capacity. This Regulation entered into force on 29 April 1999 to succeed to Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89;
Regulation (EC) No 2888/2000 concerns the distribution of quotas for heavy goods vehicles which the Community received from Switzerland for years 2001 to 2004 among its Member States. In accordance with the Agreement between the European Community and Switzerland on the Carriage of Goods and Passengers by Rail and Road and with effect from 1 January 2005, all vehicles meeting the technical standards of Directive 96/53/EC (that is to say, up to a maximum weight of 40 tonnes) shall be exempt from any quota or authorisation arrangements. Therefore, Regulation (EC) No 2888/2000 should be repealed;
Regulation (EC) No 685/2001 lays down the rules for the distribution between the Member States of authorisations available to the Community by virtue of the agreements between the European Community and Bulgaria and between the European Community and Romania establishing certain conditions for the carriage of goods by road and the promotion of combined transport. The Regulation has become obsolete as Bulgaria and Romania have acceded to the Union and as Member States they are no longer subject to a system of authorisations as far as access to the haulage market is concerned.