REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the market for coach and bus services (recast)

12.2.2008 - (COM(2007)0264 – C6‑0147/2007 – 2007/0097(COD)) - ***I

Committee on Transport and Tourism
Rapporteur: Mathieu Grosch
(Recast – Rule 80a of the Rules of Procedure)
PR_COD_1amRecast

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the market for coach and bus services (recast)

(COM(2007)0264 – C6‑0147/2007 – 2007/0097(COD))

(Codecision procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2007)0264),

–   having regard to Articles 251(2) and 71 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C6‑0147/2007),

–   having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structural use of the recasting technique for legal acts[1],

–   having regard to the letter of 20 November 2007 from the Committee on Legal Affairs pursuant to rule 80a(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to Rules 80a and 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A6‑0037/2008),

1.  Approves the Commission proposal as amended hereunder and as adapted to the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party of the Legal Services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend the proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 Recital 6 a (new)
	(6a) This Regulation should not apply either to carriers who have access only to their national market for coach and bus services or to the licences issued to those carriers by Member States of establishment.
Amendment 2 Recital 13
(13) Administrative formalities should be reduced as far as possible without abandoning the controls and sanctions that guarantee the correct application and effective enforcement of this Regulation. To this end the existing rules on the withdrawal of the Community licence should be clarified and strengthened. The current rules should be adapted to allow the effective sanctioning of serious or repeated minor infringements committed in a Member State other than the Member State of establishment. Sanctions should be non-discriminatory and in proportion to the seriousness of the infringements. It should be possible to lodge an appeal in respect of any sanctions imposed.	(13) Administrative formalities should be reduced as far as possible without abandoning the controls and sanctions that guarantee the correct application and effective enforcement of this Regulation. To this end the existing rules on the withdrawal of the Community licence should be clarified and strengthened. The current rules should be adapted to allow the effective sanctioning of serious infringements committed in Member States other than the Member State of establishment. Sanctions should be non-discriminatory and in proportion to the seriousness of the infringements. It should be possible to lodge an appeal in respect of any sanctions imposed.
Justification
Minor infringements can be considered to be of a ‘repeated’ nature if they have been committed in more than one Member State.
So long as infringements are interpreted and dealt with in such different ways in Member States and there is for the time being no specific prospect of any speedy improvement in this respect, this regulation should not include provisions relating to repeated minor infringements.
Amendment 3 Recital 14
(14) Member States should enter in their national register of road transport undertakings all serious infringements and repeated minor infringements committed by carriers and which have led to the imposition of a sanction.	(14) Member States should enter in their national register of road transport undertakings all serious infringements committed by carriers and which have led to the imposition of a sanction
Justification
So long as infringements are interpreted and dealt with in such different ways in Member States and there is for the time being no specific prospect of any speedy improvement in this respect, this regulation should not include provisions relating to repeated minor infringements.
Amendment 4 Article 2, point (g)
(g) ‘serious infringement or repeated minor infringements of Community road transport legislation’ means infringements which lead to the loss of good repute in accordance with Article 6(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No […] [establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator].	(g) ‘serious infringement of Community road transport legislation’ means infringements which, after they have been brought before a court, could lead to the loss of good repute in accordance with Article 6(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No […] [establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator].
Justification
So long as infringements are interpreted and dealt with in such different ways in Member States and there is for the time being no specific prospect of any speedy improvement in this respect, this regulation should not include provisions relating to repeated minor infringements.
Amendment 5 Article 6, paragraph 6, subparagraph 1
6. The operator of a regular service may use additional vehicles to deal with temporary and exceptional situations.	6. The operator of a regular service may use additional vehicles to deal with temporary and exceptional situations. It shall inform the Member State in whose territory the place of departure is situated of the reasons for any such temporary and exceptional situation.
Amendment 6 Article 6, paragraph 6 a (new)
	6a. Member States may refrain from applying the authorising procedure to cross-border regular services not extending more than 50 km beyond the border. They shall inform the Commission and neighbouring countries thereof.
Amendment 7 Article 8, paragraph 3
3. The authorising authority shall take a decision on the application within four months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier.	3. The authorising authority shall take a decision on the application within three months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier.
Amendment 8 Article 8, paragraph 4, subparagraph 1, point (b)
(b) in the past the applicant has not complied with national or international legislation on road transport, and in particular the conditions and requirements relating to authorisations for international road passenger services, or has committed a serious infringement or repeated minor infringements of legislation in regard to road safety, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles and driving and rest periods for drivers;	(b) in the past the applicant has not complied with national or international legislation on road transport, and in particular the conditions and requirements relating to authorisations for international road passenger services, or has committed a serious infringement of legislation in regard to road safety, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles and driving and rest periods, and the infringements in question have led to a loss of good repute within the meaning of Regulation No .../2008 [establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator];
Amendment 9 Article 8, paragraph 4, subparagraph 2
In the event that an existing international bus service is seriously affecting the viability of a comparable rail service operated under a public service contract which stipulates a public service obligation as defined in Regulation (EC) No nnnn/yyyy of the European Parliament and of the Council on public passenger transport services by rail and road on the direct sections concerned, a Member State may, with the agreement of the Commission, suspend or withdraw the authorisation to run the international bus service after having given six months’ notice to the carrier.	deleted
Justification
Authorisations are valid for a maximum of five years. Having once issued an authorisation, an authority should not be allowed to withdraw it before it has expired, given the potential consequences for any undertaking that might be predicating its operations and investment on the authorisation granted.
Amendment 10 Article 8, paragraph 8
8. After having consulted the Member States concerned, the Commission shall within four months from receipt of the communication from the authorising authority take a decision which shall take effect after thirty days of the notification to the Member States concerned.	8. After having consulted the Member States concerned, the Commission shall within ten weeks of receipt of the communication from the authorising authority take a decision which shall take effect thirty days after the notification to the Member States concerned.
Amendment 11 Article 12, paragraph 4, subparagraph 1 a (new)
	The Commission and the Member States shall undertake to adopt the measures required to ensure that provisions concerning the journey form deriving from other agreements with third countries are brought into line, not later than 1 January 2010, with the provisions of this Regulation.
Justification
In the medium term, a single harmonised journey form for all transport services within the EU and to third countries is the only way to bring about legal certainty and administrative simplification.
Amendment 12 Article 12, paragraph 5
5. The books of journey forms shall be supplied by the competent authorities of the Member State where the transport undertaking is established or by bodies appointed by those authorities.	5. The books of journey forms shall be supplied in an efficient and user-friendly manner by the competent authorities of the Member State where the transport undertaking is established or by bodies appointed by those authorities.
Justification
The process of obtaining and completing journey forms is currently too time-consuming. Using modern information and communications technology (ICT), Member States can ensure that it is easier for undertakings to obtain journey forms.
Amendment 13 Article 13, paragraph 2
Such services shall be intended for non-resident passengers previously carried by the same carrier on one of the international services mentioned in the first paragraph and must be carried out with the same vehicle or another vehicle from the same carrier or group of carriers.	Such services shall be intended for passengers previously carried by the same carrier on one of the international services mentioned in the first paragraph and must be carried out with the same vehicle or another vehicle from the same carrier or group of carriers.
Justification
As far as European routes, say, are concerned, parties of tourists should be allowed to go on local excursions in their own country.
Amendment 14 Article 16, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1, point (d)
(d) working time, driving time and rest periods;	(d) driving time and rest periods;
Justification
As Member States have different national provisions in the field of working time, it is impossible to comply with them when travelling through different countries. Therefore only the driving time and rest periods should be checked, as these are agreed upon at EU level and they are identical in all Member States.
Amendment 15 Article 16, paragraph 1, point (e a) (new)
	(ea) in case of posting of workers as set out under Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services1.
	1 OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1.
Justification
Recital 10 states that the ‘posting’ directive applies to cabotage transport operations. That fact should likewise be reflected in the enacting terms.
Amendment 16 Article 22, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1
In the event of a serious infringement or repeated minor infringements of Community road transport legislation committed or ascertained in any Member State, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles, driving and rest periods for drivers and the provision without authorisation of parallel or temporary services, as referred to in Article 5(1), fourth subparagraph, the competent authorities of the Member State of establishment of the carrier who committed the infringement shall issue a warning and may, inter alia, impose the following administrative sanctions:	In the event of a serious infringement of Community road transport legislation committed or ascertained in any Member State, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles, driving and rest periods for drivers and the provision without authorisation of parallel or temporary services, as referred to in Article 5(1), fourth subparagraph, the competent authorities of the Member State of establishment of the carrier who committed the infringement shall issue a warning and may, inter alia, impose the following administrative sanctions:
Justification
So long as infringements are interpreted and dealt with in such different ways in Member States and there is for the time being no specific prospect of any speedy improvement in this respect, this regulation should not include provisions relating to repeated minor infringements.
Amendment 17 Article 22, paragraph 1, point (b a) (new)
	(ba) fines.
Justification
To ensure sanctions are effective, the regulation should explicitly provide for the imposition of fines.
Amendment 18 Article 22, paragraph 2
2. The competent authorities of the Member States shall prohibit a carrier from operating an international passenger service under this Regulation on their territory if he repeatedly commits serious infringements of Community road transport legislation, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles and driving and rest periods for drivers. They shall immediately inform the competent authorities of the Member State concerned.	2. The competent authorities of the Member States shall prohibit a carrier from operating an international passenger service under this Regulation on their territory if he has committed serious infringements of Community road transport legislation, and once a final decision has been issued after all the legal possibilities for review open to the carrier have been exhausted, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles and driving and rest periods for drivers. They shall immediately inform the competent authorities of the Member State concerned.
Justification
In order to guarantee bus and coach operators fair treatment, sanctions following serious infringements should only be applied after a final court sentence.
Amendment 19 Article 22, paragraph 3
3. In the case referred to in Article 23(1) the competent authorities of the Member State of establishment shall decide whether a sanction shall be imposed on the carrier concerned. They shall communicate to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the infringements were ascertained as soon as possible and at the latest within three months from receiving knowledge of the infringement which of the sanctions provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article have been imposed. If it has not been possible to impose such sanctions, they shall state the reasons.	3. Where a serious infringement has been ascertained in the case referred to in Article 23(1) the competent authorities of the Member State of establishment shall decide what form of sanction shall be imposed on the carrier concerned. They shall communicate to the competent authorities of the Member State in which the infringements were ascertained as soon as possible and at the latest within three months from receiving knowledge of the infringement which of the sanctions provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article have been imposed. If it has not been possible to impose such sanctions, they shall state the reasons.
Justification
When there have been serious infringements, a sanction has to follow.
Amendment 20 Article 23, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1
Where the competent authorities of a Member State are aware of a serious infringement or of repeated minor infringements of this Regulation or of Community road transport legislation attributable to a non-resident carrier, the Member State within the territory of which the infringement is ascertained shall transmit to the competent authorities of the Member State of establishment as soon as possible but at the latest within one month from receiving knowledge of the infringement the following information:	Where the competent authorities of a Member State are aware of a serious infringement of this Regulation or of Community road transport legislation attributable to a non-resident carrier, the Member State within the territory of which the infringement is ascertained shall transmit to the competent authorities of the Member State of establishment as soon as possible but at the latest within one month from receiving knowledge of the infringement the following information:
Justification
So long as infringements are interpreted and dealt with in such different ways in Member States and there is for the time being no specific prospect of any speedy improvement in this respect, this regulation should not include provisions relating to repeated minor infringements.
Amendment 21 Article 23, paragraph 2
2. Without prejudice to criminal prosecution, the host Member State may impose sanctions on non-resident carriers who have committed infringements of this Regulation or of Community or national transport regulations within its territory on the occasion of a cabotage transport operation. The sanctions shall be imposed on a non-discriminatory basis and may, inter alia, consist of a warning and/or, in the event of a serious infringement or repeated minor infringements, a temporary ban on cabotage transport operations within the territory of the host Member State where the infringement was committed.	2. Without prejudice to criminal prosecution, the host Member State may impose sanctions on non-resident carriers who have committed infringements of this Regulation or of Community or national transport regulations within its territory on the occasion of a cabotage transport operation. The sanctions shall be imposed on a non-discriminatory basis and may, inter alia, consist of a warning and/or, in the event of a serious infringement, a temporary ban on cabotage transport operations within the territory of the host Member State where the infringement was committed, and/or the imposition of a fine.
Justification
So long as infringements are interpreted and dealt with in such different ways in Member States and there is for the time being no specific prospect of any speedy improvement in this respect, this regulation should not include provisions relating to repeated minor infringements.
To ensure sanctions are effective, the regulation should explicitly provide for the imposition of fines.
Amendment 22 Article 24
Member States shall ensure that serious infringements or repeated minor infringements of Community road transport legislation committed by carriers established in their territory which have led to the imposition of a sanction as well as the sanctions imposed are recorded in the national register of road transport undertakings as established under Regulation (EC) No […] [establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator]. Those entries in the registry which concern a temporary or permanent withdrawal of a Community licence shall remain in the database for at least two years.	Member States shall ensure that serious infringements of Community road transport legislation committed by carriers established in their territory which have led to the imposition of a sanction as well as the sanctions imposed are recorded in the national register of road transport undertakings as established under Regulation (EC) No […] [establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator]. Those entries in the registry which concern a temporary or permanent withdrawal of a Community licence shall remain in the database for at least two years.
Justification
So long as infringements are interpreted and dealt with in such different ways in Member States and there is for the time being no specific prospect of any speedy improvement in this respect, this regulation should not include provisions relating to repeated minor infringements.
Amendment 23 Article 30, paragraph 2
It shall apply from [date of application].	It shall apply from 1 January 2009.
Amendment24 Annex I, first page of the licence
for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus for hire or reward	for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus for hire or reward, and for cabotage transport operations
Amendment 25 Annex I, General provisions, point 5, point (c)
(c) has committed a serious infringement or repeated minor infringements of Community road transport legislation in any Member State, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles, driving and rest periods for drivers and the provision, without authorisation, of parallel or temporary services as referred to in Article 5(1), fourth subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No […/…] [this Regulation]. The competent authorities of the Member State of establishment of the carrier who committed the infringement may, inter alia, withdraw the Community licence or make temporary or permanent withdrawals of some or all of the certified true copies of the Community licence.	(c) has committed a serious infringement of Community road transport legislation in one or more Member States, in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles, driving and rest periods for drivers and the provision, without authorisation, of parallel or temporary services as referred to in Article 5(1), fourth subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No […/…] [this Regulation]. The competent authorities of the Member State of establishment of the carrier who committed the infringement may, inter alia, withdraw the Community licence or make temporary or permanent withdrawals of some or all of the certified true copies of the Community licence.
Justification
As there are many differences in interpretation and enforcement on ’minor infringements’ between Member States, their inclusion creates the risk of legal uncertainty for bus and coach operators. Enforcement should therefore concentrate on serious infringements only. In order to create a level playing field for bus and coach operators from all countries, Member States have to agree upon the (individual) definitions of ’serious infringements’ before this ’recast’ enters into force.

• [1]               OJ C 77, 28.3.2002, p. 1.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

General context

Access to the market for coach and bus services is at present governed by regulations (EEC) No 684/92 and (EC) No 12/98.

For the purposes of coach and bus transport, a distinction is made between two types of carriage, namely occasional services and regular services.

The above two regulations have already liberalised international carriage where occasional services are concerned.

As regards international regular services, carriers must seek authorisation from Member States whose territory is crossed by such services. Cabotage operations may, moreover, be carried out when providing international regular services.

The aim of the Commission proposal is to simplify the legislative framework. The regulation laying down the public service obligations applicable to road and rail transport has been adopted and must be taken into consideration in the authorisation procedure for regular services. In addition, the Commission is seeking to strengthen cooperation among Member States and harmonise document formats so as to make for easier checking.

The rapporteur’s view

The two regulations have been combined to form a single text, and the resulting simplification of the legislative framework is to be welcomed.

1. One point to be made about scope is that the regulation does not apply to the ‘national’ licences that Member States issue to carriers performing national services only.

2. As regards the procedure for authorising international regular services, the sector is broadly in favour of the simplifications. Member States may not refuse authorisation other than in very specific cases, for instance when a regular service would seriously affect the viability of a service operated under a public service contract. The authorities of Member States whose territory is merely crossed in transit, but where no passengers are picked up or set down, will simply be informed once the Member States concerned have agreed to authorise the service in question.

To enable the procedure to run smoothly, it would be desirable to shorten the time allowed for Member States’ authorities to grant or refuse authorisation; and, when a case has been referred to it after authorisation has been refused, the Commission should likewise be required to reach a decision within a shorter deadline.

The necessary provision should also be made to enable additional vehicles to be used temporarily in exceptional circumstances for regular services; when the place of departure is situated on its territory, a Member State should accordingly be told that the above option is to be exercised as well as being informed of the reasons for the exceptional situation.

Member States should be allowed to exempt cross-border services from the authorising procedure; the regulation on public service obligations would in any case continue to apply.

3. Recital 10 of the proposal for a regulation states that the directive on the posting of workers applies to special regular services. That provision should be included in the appropriate article.

4. Regarding cooperation among Member States, the principles and changes that the rapporteur is proposing here are the same as those being put forward in connection with the regulation on access to the market for the international carriage of goods by road.

5. As regards the harmonisation of control documents, the rapporteur endorses the provisions set out in the proposal and especially the application of the comitology procedure with scrutiny by Parliament.

ANNEX 1: LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AFFAIRS

COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AFFAIRS

CHAIRMAN

Ref.: D(2007)73874

Mr Paolo COSTA

Chairman of the Committee on Transport and Tourism

ASP 09G305

Brussels

Subject:        Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the market for coach and bus services (2007/0097(COD)) (recast)

Dear Sir,

The Committee on Legal Affairs, which I am honoured to chair, has examined the proposal referred to above, pursuant to Rule 80a on Recasting, as introduced into Parliament's Rules of Procedure by its decision of 10 May 2007.

Paragraph 3 of that Rule reads as follows:

"If the committee responsible for legal affairs considers that the proposal does not entail any substantive changes other than those identified as such in the proposal, it shall inform the committee responsible.

In such a case, over and above the conditions laid down in Rules 150 and 151, amendments shall be admissible within the committee responsible only if they concern those parts of the proposal which contain changes.

However, amendments to the parts which have remained unchanged may be admitted by way of exception and on a case-by-case basis by the chairman of the above committee if he considers that this is necessary for pressing reasons relating to the internal logic of the text or because the amendments are inextricably linked to other admissible amendments. Such reasons must be stated in a written justification to the amendments".

Following the opinion of the Legal Service, whose representatives participated in the meetings of the Consultative Working Party examining the recast proposal, and in keeping with the recommendations of the draftsperson, the Committee on Legal Affairs considers that the proposal in question does not include any substantive changes other than those identified as such in the proposal and that, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier acts with those changes, the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts, without any change in their substance.

In conclusion, the Committee on Legal Affairs recommends your Committee, as the committee responsible, to proceed to examine the above proposal in accordance with Rule 80a.

Yours faithfully,

Giuseppe GARGANI

ANNEX 2: OPINION IN LETTER FORM OF THE LEGAL SERVICES' CONSULTATIVE WORKING PARTY

Brussels,

OPINION

FOR THE ATTENTION OF           THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

THE COUNCIL THE COMMISSION

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the market for coach and bus services (recast) COM(2007) 264 final of 23.5.2007 - 2007/0097 (COD)

Having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts, and in particular to point 9 thereof, the Consultative Working Party, consisting of the respective legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, met on 30 May 2007 and on 11 June 2007 for the purpose of examining the aforementioned proposal submitted by the Commission.

At those meetings[1], an examination of the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council recasting Council Regulation (EEC) 684/92 of 16 March 1992 on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus and Council Regulation (EC) No 12/98 of 11 December 1997 laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a Member State resulted in the Consultative Working Party's establishing, by common accord, as follows:

1) An incorrect title had been erroneously indicated in the cover page of the abovementioned document having been officially transmitted on 23 May 2007, which read "Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus"; in that document, the correct title was that appearing at the beginning of the text of the recast proposal and reading "Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the market for coach and bus services". Incidentally, it should be pointed out that on 1 June 2007 a new document bearing a reference number COM(2007) 264 final/2 was officially transmitted to the European Parliament and to the Council; on the cover page of that new document a corrigendum appears, which reads "Annule et remplace la page de couverture du document COM(2007)264 final .du 23.5.2007 / Cette correction concerne les versions EN,FR,DE".

2) The following parts of text of the recast proposal should have been identified by using the grey-shaded type used for marking substantive changes:

the entire text of the second subparagraph of point (3.4) of Article 2 of Regulation 684/92, appearing twice in the text of the recast proposal already marked with double strikethrough, once between the texts of points (c) and (d) of Article 2 and once between the fourth and fifth subparagraphs of Article 5(3);

the entire text of Article 3a(5) of Regulation 684/92, having been already marked with double strikethrough and appearing immediately after Article 4(4) in the text of the recast proposal;

the entire text of the second subparagraph of Article 13(3) of Regulation 684/92, having been already marked with double strikethrough and appearing in the text of Article 5(5) in the recast proposal;

the entire text of Article 5(4) of Regulation 684/92, having been already marked with double strikethrough and appearing between the texts of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 6 in the recast proposal;

the entire text of Article 6(2) of Regulation 684/92, having been already marked with double strikethrough and appearing between the texts of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 7 in the recast proposal;

in Article 8(8), the word "within" (already marked with double strikethrough) and the word "after";

the entire text of Article 11(5) of Regulation 684/92, having been already marked with double strikethrough and appearing between the texts of paragraphs 6 and 7 of Article 12 in the recast proposal;

the initial wording of Article 6(2), introductory words, of Regulation 12/98, appearing as a deleted text, marked with double strikethrough, before the introductory words of Article 17(2) in the recast proposal;

the second sentence of Article 6(3) of Regulation 12/98, appearing as a deleted text, marked with double strikethrough, after the text of Article 17(3) in the recast proposal;

the entire text of the third subparagraph of point (3) of Article 3 of Regulation 12/98, having been already marked with double strikethrough and appearing at the end of

point (c) of Article 15 in the text of the recast proposal;

the entire text of the fourth subparagraph of point (3) of Article 3 of Regulation

12/98, having been already marked with double strikethrough and appearing

immediately after the proposed text of Article 15 in the recast proposal;

in Article 16(l)(a), the word "rates";

in the title of Chapter VI, in the second subparagraph of Article 22(1), in Article

23(2) and in Article 27, the words "penalties" (already marked with double

strikethrough) and "sanctions" (already marked with adaptation arrows);

in Article 18(1), introductory words, the wordings "Passengers using" and "throughout their journey possess" (all having been already marked with double strikethrough), and "Carriers operating" and "issue" (all presented between adaptation arrows);

in Article 22(l)(a), the word "permanent" (already marked with adaptation arrows);

in Article 22(l)(b), the word "temporary" (already included in a part of text marked with adaptation arrows).

3) The deleted texts of Section IV of Regulation 684/92 appearing immediately after new Article 13 in the recast proposal and of Article 16(5) of the same regulation appearing immediately after new Article 20 should have not appeared in the recast proposal.

4) It was acknowledged that a certain inconsistency would appear to exist between the text of point 5(c) of Annex I and that of Article 22(1), in that the said point appears to quote the contents of the introductory wording and of point (a) of Article 22(1) without mentioning its point (b).

5) It was also acknowledged that the correlation table in Annex II is not accurate, and would therefore need to be completed and corrected where necessary.

In consequence, examination of the proposal has enabled the Consultative Working Party to conclude, without dissent, that the proposal does not comprise any substantive amendments other than those identified as such therein or in the present opinion. The Working Party also concluded, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier acts with those substantive amendments, that the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts, without any change in their substance.

C. PENNERA                                  J.-C. PIRIS                 M. PETITE

Jurisconsult                                       Jurisconsult                  Director General

• [1]  The Consultative Working Party had all language versions of the proposal and worked on the basis of the English version, being the master-copy language version of the text under discussion.

PROCEDURE

Title	International carriage of passengers by coach and bus (recast)
References	COM(2007)0264 – C6-0147/2007 – 2007/0097(COD)
Date submitted to Parliament	23.5.2007
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	TRAN 24.9.2007
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)        Date announced in plenary	JURI 24.9.2007
Not delivering opinions        Date of decision	JURI 20.11.2007
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	Mathieu Grosch 13.7.2007
Discussed in committee	9.10.2007		21.11.2007		21.1.2008
Date adopted	22.1.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	45 0 3
Members present for the final vote	Gabriele Albertini, Inés Ayala Sender, Etelka Barsi-Pataky, Paolo Costa, Michael Cramer, Luis de Grandes Pascual, Christine De Veyrac, Petr Duchoň, Saïd El Khadraoui, Robert Evans, Emanuel Jardim Fernandes, Francesco Ferrari, Mathieu Grosch, Georg Jarzembowski, Stanisław Jałowiecki, Timothy Kirkhope, Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, Jaromír Kohlíček, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Sepp Kusstatscher, Jörg Leichtfried, Bogusław Liberadzki, Eva Lichtenberger, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Erik Meijer, Robert Navarro, Seán Ó Neachtain, Willi Piecyk, Reinhard Rack, Luca Romagnoli, Gilles Savary, Brian Simpson, Renate Sommer, Dirk Sterckx, Ulrich Stockmann, Georgios Toussas, Yannick Vaugrenard, Roberts Zīle
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Johannes Blokland, Philip Bradbourn, Luigi Cocilovo, Markus Ferber, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Lily Jacobs, Anne E. Jensen, Leopold Józef Rutowicz, Ari Vatanen, Corien Wortmann-Kool