RECOMMENDATION FOR SECOND READING on the Council common position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the inland transport of dangerous goods

5.6.2008 - (6920/3/2008 – C6‑0160/2008 – 2006/0278(COD)) - ***II

Committee on Transport and Tourism
Rapporteur: Bogusław Liberadzki

Procedure : 2006/0278(COD)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
A6-0227/2008

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the Council common position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the inland transport of dangerous goods

(6920/3/2008 – C6‑0160/2008 – 2006/0278(COD))

(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Council common position (6920/3/2008 – C6‑0160/2008)[1],

–   having regard to its position at first reading[2] on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2006)0852)[3],

–   having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A6‑0227/2008),

1.  Approves the common position;

2.  Notes that the act is adopted in accordance with the common position;

3.  Instructs its President to sign the act with the President of the Council pursuant to Article 254(1) of the EC Treaty;

4.  Instructs its Secretary-General to sign the act, once it has been verified that all the procedures have been duly completed, and, in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Council, to have it published in the Official Journal of the European Union;

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

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The Commission proposal

The proposed Directive updates the existing four directives and four Commission decisions on the transport of dangerous goods and merges them into one piece of legislation. Furthermore, the directive includes in its scope the transport of dangerous goods by inland waterways, which has so far not been subject to EU legislation. The proposal also integrates international rules for the transport of dangerous goods into Community law and extends their application to national transport. The objective of the proposal is to ensure a high level of safety through the application of harmonised rules, while at the same time improving inter-modality in the transport of dangerous goods.

First reading

In first reading, Parliament adopted a total of 42 amendments, including several of technical nature. Furthermore, the report exempts Member States, which have no railway system from the obligation to transpose and implement this directive insofar as rail is concerned. Parliament also introduced a transitory period of up to two years for the application of the Directive's provisions in respect of inland waterways in order to provide sufficient time for the adaptation of national provisions, the establishment of legal frameworks and the training of personnel.

In addition, the report ensures that Member States may still lay down specific requirements for the national and international transport of dangerous goods within their territory as regards vehicles, wagons and inland waterway vessels not covered by the new directive. They may also prescribe certain routes or specific modes of transport and lay down special rules for the transport of dangerous goods in passenger trains.

Common Position

The Parliament amendments had been the result of informal negotiations between the rapporteur and the Council. The Council thus accepted all amendments adopted by Parliament in first reading. However, the Council considered it necessary to introduce two modifications to the position of the Parliament in.

Firstly, the Common Position introduces a paragraph in Article 1, which allows Member States to regulate or prohibit, strictly for reasons other than safety during transport, the transport of dangerous goods within their territory.

Secondly, the Council added a paragraph to Article 8, which stipulates that the Commission shall provide financial support to the Member States for the translation of the ADR (European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road), RID (Regulations concerning International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail) and ADN (European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways) and of their modifications into their respective official languages.

Rapporteur's comments:

Your rapporteur supports both of the Council's changes. He therefore recommends that the Common Position be approved without amendment and that the legislative procedure be concluded.

PROCEDURE

Title

Inland transport of dangerous goods

References

06920/3/2008 – C6-0160/2008 – 2006/0278(COD)

Date of Parliament’s first reading – P number

5.9.2007                     T6-0370/2007

Commission proposal

COM(2006)0852 - C6-0012/2007

Date receipt of common position announced in plenary

10.4.2008

Committee responsible

       Date announced in plenary

TRAN

10.4.2008

Rapporteur(s)

       Date appointed

Bogusław Liberadzki

27.3.2008

 

 

Discussed in committee

6.5.2008

 

 

 

Date adopted

29.5.2008

 

 

 

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

27

0

0

Members present for the final vote

Inés Ayala Sender, Paolo Costa, Arūnas Degutis, Petr Duchoň, Saïd El Khadraoui, Robert Evans, Emanuel Jardim Fernandes, Francesco Ferrari, Brigitte Fouré, Mathieu Grosch, Georg Jarzembowski, Timothy Kirkhope, Sepp Kusstatscher, Jörg Leichtfried, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Erik Meijer, Willi Piecyk, Paweł Bartłomiej Piskorski, Luís Queiró, Reinhard Rack, Brian Simpson, Yannick Vaugrenard

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

Nathalie Griesbeck, Zita Gurmai, Leopold Józef Rutowicz

Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

Rovana Plumb, Bart Staes