(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2017)0647),

–  having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 91(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C8‑0396/2017),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to the reasoned opinion submitted, within the framework of Protocol No 2 on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, by the Irish Houses of the Oireachtas, asserting that the draft legislative act does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity,

–  having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 19 April 2018(1),

–  having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions(2),

–  having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A8-0032/2019),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

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

(1) OJ C 262, 25.7.2018, p. 47. (2) OJ C 387, 25.10.2018, p. 70.

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions(2),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure(3),

Whereas:

(1)  The application of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council(4) has revealed that some operators in national markets are facing unjustified obstacles to the development of inter-urban coach services of benefit to passengers. Moreover, road passenger transport services have not kept pace with the evolving needs of citizens in terms of availability and quality and sustainable transport modes continue to have a low modal share. As a consequence, certain groups of citizens are placed at a disadvantage in terms of availability of passenger transport services, and there are more road accidents, emissions, and congestion and increased infrastructure costs due to greater use of cars. [Am. 1]

(2)  To ensure a coherent framework for the inter-urban carriage of passengers by regular coach and bus services throughout the Union, Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 should apply to all inter-urban carriage by regular services. The scope of that Regulation should therefore be extended, but should not be applied to urban or suburban centres or conurbations and should be without prejudice to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council(5). [Am. 2]

(3)  Each Member State should designate an independent and impartial regulatory body, should be designated in each Member State with the task of issuing binding opinions, to ensure the proper functioning of the road passenger transport market. That body may also be responsible for other regulated sectors such as rail, energy or telecommunications. [Am. 3]

(4)  Commercial regular service operations should not compromise the economic equilibrium of existing or granted public service contracts in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007. For this reason, the regulatory body should be able to carry out an objective economic analysis and should have the authority, where appropriate, to propose measures necessary to ensure that this is the case. Commercial regular service operations should not compete with transport providers who have been granted exclusive rights to provide certain public passenger transport services in return for the discharge of public service obligations within the framework of a public service contract. [Am. 4]

(5)  The operation of regular services in the form of cabotage operations should be conditional on the possession of a Community licence and the use of a smart tachograph in accordance with Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(6). In order to facilitate effective controls of those services by enforcement authorities, the rules regarding the issuing of Community licences should be clarified and the Internal Market Information System (IMI) module developed for the sending of posting declarations and electronic applications, enabling the inspectors carrying out the roadside checks to have direct real-time access to data and information contained in the European Register of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU) and in the IMI and so as to ensure that social contributions are actually paid for posted bus drivers. [Am. 5]

(6)  In order to ensure fair competition in the market, operators of regular services should be provided with access rights to terminals in the Union on fair, equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent terms. The operation of a terminal should be approved by a national authority, which should verify which requirements are necessary and which must be fulfilled. Appeals against decisions rejecting or limiting access should be lodged with the regulatory body. Member States might exclude terminals that are owned and used solely by the terminal operator for its own road passenger transport services. [Am. 6]

(7)  While maintaining authorisation for regular services, certain rules regarding the authorisation procedure should be adapted.

(8)  Authorisation for both national and international regular services should be subject to an authorisation procedure. Authorisation should be granted, unless there are specific grounds for refusal attributable to the applicant, or the service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract. A distance threshold, determined by the Member States, which should in any event not exceed 100 kilometres journey distance, should be introduced to ensure that commercial regular service operations do not compromise the economic equilibrium of existing public service contracts. In the case of routes already served by more than one public service contract, it should be possible to increase that threshold. [Am. 7]

(9)  Non-resident carriers should be able to operate national regular services under the same conditions as resident carriers, as long as they have complied with road transport or other relevant provisions of national, Union and international law. [Am. 8]

(10)  Administrative formalities should be reduced as much as where possible without abandoning the controls and penalties that guarantee the correct application and effective enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009. The journey form constitutes an unnecessary administrative burden and should therefore be abolished. [Am. 9]

(11)  Local excursions are an authorised cabotage operation and are covered by the general rules on cabotage. The article on local excursions should therefore be deleted. [Am. 10]

(12)  In view of the importance of effective enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009, the rules on inspections at the roadside and in undertakings should be amended to include cabotage operations.

(13)  Insofar as this Regulation harmonises the rules in national markets for regular coach and bus services and access to terminals, its objectives, namely the promotion of inter-urban mobility and the increase of the modal share of sustainable passenger transport modes, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States. Therefore, the Union may adopt measures, in line with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives pursued.

(14)  In order to take into account market developments and technical progress the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to amend Annexes I and II to Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009, and to supplement that Regulation with rules concerning the format of certificates for own-account transport operations, the format of applications for authorisations and authorisations themselves, the procedure and criteria to be followed to determine if a proposed service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract, and the reporting obligations of Member States. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in line with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (7). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council should receive all documents at the same time as the Member States’ experts, and the European Parliament and the Council experts should systematically have access to the Commission’s expert group meetings dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. [Am. 11]

(15)  Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 is amended as follows:

(1)  in Article 1, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:"

“4. This Regulation shall apply to national interurban road passenger services for hire or reward operated by a non-resident carrier as provided for in Chapter V, and shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007.”; [Am. 12]

(2)  Article 2 is amended as follows:

(a)  point 2 is replaced by the following:"

“2. ‘regular services’ means services which provide for the carriage of passengers at specified intervals along specified routes, either without intermediate stopping points or with passengers being picked up and set down at predetermined stopping points;”;

(b)  point 7 is replaced by the following:"

“7. ‘cabotage operation’ means a national road passenger transport service operated for hire or reward in a host Member State;”; [Am. 83]

(c)  the following points 9 to 11b are added:"

“9. ‘terminal’ means any an authorised facility with a minimum area of 600m2, which provides a parking place that is used by coaches and buses for the setting down or picking up alighting or boarding of passengers; [Am. 13]

10.  ‘terminal operator’ means any entity in a Member State responsible for the management of a terminal, which meets professional competence and financial capacity requirements; [Am. 14]

11.  ‘viable alternative’ means another terminal which is economically acceptable to the carrier and provides comparable infrastructure and connectivity to the terminal originally applied for, allows passengers access to other forms of public transport, and allows the carrier to operate the passenger service concerned in a similar manner to the terminal originally applied for; [Am. 15]

11a.  ‘public service contract’ means one or more legally binding acts confirming the agreement between a competent authority and a public service operator to entrust to that public service operator the management and operation of public passenger transport services subject to public service obligations; depending on the law of the Member State, the contract may also consist of a decision adopted by the competent authority taking the form of an individual legislative or regulatory act, or containing conditions under which the competent authority itself provides the services or entrusts the provision of such services to an internal operator; [Am. 16]

11b.  ‘alternative route’ means a route between the same starting point and destination taken by an existing regular service that can be used instead.ˮ; [Am. 17]

(3)  the following Article is inserted before Chapter II:"

“Article 3a

Regulatory body

1.  Each The competent authorities in each Member State shall designate a single national public regulatory body for the road passenger transport sector. That body shall be an impartial authority which is, in organisational, functional, hierarchical and decision making terms, legally distinct, transparent and independent from any other public or private entity. It shall be independent from any competent authority involved in the award of a public service contract. [Am. 18]

The regulatory body may be an existing body which is responsible for other regulated sectors services. [Am. 19]

2.  The regulatory body for the road passenger transport sector shall have the necessary organisational capacity in terms of human, financial and other resources to fulfil its duties, which shall be proportionate to the importance of that sector in the Member State concerned. [Am. 20]

2a.  Without prejudice to the powers of the national competition authorities, the regulatory body shall have the power to monitor the competitive situation in the domestic market for regular passenger transport services by road, with a view to preventing discrimination or the abuse of a dominant position in the market, including through sub-contracting. Its opinions shall be binding. [Am. 21]

3.  The regulatory body shall perform the following tasks:

4.  The regulatory body may, in exercising its tasks, request relevant information from the other competent authorities, terminal operators, applicants for authorisation and any third party involved within the territory of the Member State concerned. [Am. 25]

Information requested shall be supplied within a reasonable period set by the regulatory body, and not exceeding which shall not exceed one month. In duly justified cases, the regulatory body may extend the time limit for submission of information by a maximum of two weeks. The regulatory body shall be able to enforce requests for information by means of penalties which are effective, proportionate and dissuasive. [Am. 26]

5.  Member States shall ensure that decisions taken by the regulatory body are subject to prompt judicial review. That review may have suspensive effect only when the immediate effect of the regulatory body’s decision may cause irretrievable or manifestly excessive damages for the appellant. This provision is without prejudice to the powers of the court hearing the appeal as conferred by constitutional law of the Member State concerned. [Am. 27]

6.  Decisions taken by the regulatory body shall be made public within two weeks of their adoption.”; [Am. 28]

(4)  Article 4 is amended as follows:

(a)  paragraph 1 is replaced with the following:"

“1. International carriage of passengers and cabotage operations by coach and bus shall be carried out subject to possession of a Community licence issued by the competent authorities of the Member State of establishment.”;

(b)  in paragraph 2, the third subparagraph is replaced by the following:"

“The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 amending Annexes I and II in order to adapt them to technical progress.”;

(5)  Article 5 is amended as follows:

(a)  in paragraph 3, the fifth subparagraph is deleted;

(b)  in paragraph 5, the third subparagraph is replaced by the following:"

“The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 establishing the format of the certificates.”;

(6)  the following Article is inserted:"

“Article 5a

Access to terminals

1.  Terminal operators shall grant carriers the right to access terminals for the purpose of operating regular services including any facilities or services provided in that terminal under fair, equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent conditions.

1a.  Where terminal operators grant access, bus and coach operators shall comply with the terminal’s existing terms and conditions. [Am. 29]

2.  Terminal operators shall endeavour to accommodate all requests for access in order to ensure optimum use of terminals.

Requests for access to terminals may be refused only on the duly justified grounds of lack of capacity considerations, repeated failure to pay fees, duly documented serious and repeated infringements by the road transport operator, or other national provisions, provided they are consistently applied and do not discriminate either against particular carriers seeking access to a terminal, or their associated business models. If a request is refused, the terminal operator shall also communicate its decision to the regulatory authority. [Am. 30]

Where a terminal operator refuses a request for access, it shall is encouraged to indicate any best viable alternatives of which it is aware. [Am. 31]

3.  Terminal operators shall publish at least the following information in two or more official the respective national languages and one other official language of the Union: [Am. 32]

That information shall be made available free of charge in electronic format by the terminal operator and the regulatory body on request, and where they have websites, on those websites.

The information shall be kept up to date and amended as necessary.”;

3a.  Member States may exclude terminals that are owned and used solely by the terminal operator for its own road passenger transport services from the application of this Article. When considering an application for exclusion, regulatory bodies shall take into account the availability of viable alternatives.”; [Am. 34]

(7)  the following Article is inserted:"

“Article 5b

Procedure for granting access to terminals

1.  A carrier seeking access to a terminal shall submit an application to the terminal operator.

2.  If access cannot be granted as requested in the application, the terminal operator shall initiate consultations with all interested carriers with a view to accommodating the application. [Am. 35]

3.  The terminal operator shall take a decision on any application for access to a terminal within two months without delay and no later than one month of the date of submission of the application by the carrier. Decisions on Where access is refused, the terminal operator shall state the reasons on which they are based justify its decision. [Am. 36]

4.  Applicants may appeal against decisions by terminal operators. Appeals shall be lodged with the regulatory body.

5.  Where the regulatory body hears an appeal against a decision by a terminal operator, it shall adopt a reasoned decision within a fixed timeframe and, in any case within three weeks from receipt of all relevant information.

The decision of the regulatory body on the appeal shall be binding, subject to national law provisions regarding judicial review. The regulatory body shall be able to enforce it by means of penalties which are effective, proportionate and dissuasive. [Am. 37]

The decision shall be subject to judicial review only.";

(8)  Article 6 is amended as follows:

(a)  in paragraph 1, the first sentence of the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:"

“Authorisations shall be issued in the name of the carrier, in paper or electronic format and shall be non-transferable.”;

(b)  paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:"

“4. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 establishing the format of the authorisations.”;

(9)  Article 7 is amended as follows:

(a)  paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:"

“1. Applications for authorisation of regular services shall be submitted to the authorising authority in paper or electronic format.

2.  The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 establishing the format of the applications.”;

(10)  Article 8 is replaced by the following:"

“Article 8

Procedures for authorisation, procedure suspension and withdrawal of authorisation for the international carriage of passengers over a distance of less than up to 100 kilometres as the crow flies journey distance [Am. 38]

1.  Authorisations shall be issued in agreement with the competent authorities of all the Member States in whose territories passengers are picked up or set down and are carried over distances of less than defined by each Member State, up to 100 kilometres as the crow flies journey distance. The authorising authority shall send a copy of the application, together with copies of any other relevant documentation, within two weeks of receipt of the application to such competent authorities with a request for their agreement. At the same time, the authorising authority shall forward those documents to the competent authorities of other Member States whose territories are crossed, for information. [Am. 39]

2.  The competent authorities of the Member States whose agreement has been requested shall notify the authorising authority of their decision within three two months. The time limit shall be calculated from the date of receipt of the request for agreement which is demonstrated by the acknowledgement of receipt. If the competent authorities of the Member States whose agreement has been requested do not agree, they shall state the reasons. [Am. 40]

If the competent authorities of the Member States whose agreement has been requested do not reply within the time limit laid down in the first subparagraph, they shall be deemed to have given their agreement.

3.  The authorising authority shall take a decision on the application within four three months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier. [Am. 41]

4.  Authorisation shall be granted unless refusal can be justified on one or more of the objective grounds related to the public interest listed in points (a) to (d) of Article 8c(2). [Am. 42]

4a.  In the event that an international regular bus and coach service has compromised the economic equilibrium of a public service contract, due to exceptional reasons which could not have been foreseen at the time of granting the authorisation and which lay not in the responsibility of the owner of the public service contract, the Member State concerned may, with the agreement of the Commission, suspend or withdraw the authorisation to provide the service, after having given six months’ notice to the carrier. The carrier shall have the possibility to appeal such decision. [Am. 43]

5.  If one of the competent authorities does not agree to the authorisation, the matter may be referred to the Commission within two months following receipt of its reply.

6.  After having consulted the Member States of the competent authorities which disagreed, the Commission shall, within four no later than two months from receipt of the communication from the authorising authority, take a decision. The decision shall take effect 30 days after its notification to the competent authorities in the Member States concerned. [Am. 44]

7.  The Commission decision shall apply until such time as the Member States reach an agreement and the authorising authority adopts a decision on the application.”;

(11)  the following Articles are inserted:"

“Article 8a

Authorisation procedure Procedures for authorisation, suspension and withdrawal of authorisation for the international carriage of passengers over a distance of over 100 kilometres or more as the crow flies journey distance [Am. 45]

1.  The authorising authority shall take a decision on the application within without delay and no later than two months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier. [Am. 46]

2.  Authorisation shall be granted unless refusal can be justified on one or more of the grounds listed in points (a) to (c) (ca) of Article 8c(2). [Am. 47]

3.  The authorising authority shall forward to the competent authorities of all Member States in whose territories passengers are picked up or set down, as well as to the competent authorities of Member States whose territories are crossed without passengers being picked up or set down, boarding or alighting a copy of the application, together with copies of any other relevant documentation, and its assessment within two weeks of receipt of the application, with a request for their agreement. The authorising authority shall also forward the relevant documents to the competent authorities of the Member States whose territories are crossed without passengers boarding or alighting, for information. [Am. 48]

3a.  If one of the competent authorities of the Member States in whose territories passengers are boarding or alighting does not agree to the authorisation for one of the reasons set out in paragraph 2, authorisation may not be granted, but the matter may be referred to the Commission within one month of receipt of its reply. [Am. 49]

3b.  After having consulted the Member States of the competent authorities which disagreed, the Commission shall, within four months of receipt of the communication from the authorising authority, take a decision. The decision shall take effect 30 days after its notification to the Member States concerned. [Am. 50]

3c.  The Commission decision shall apply until such time as the Member States reach an agreement and the authorising authority adopts a decision on the application. [Am. 51]

Article 8b

Authorisation procedure for national regular services

1.  The authorising authority shall take a decision on the application within no later than two months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier. This may be extended to four three months where an analysis is requested in accordance with point (d) of Article 8c(2). [Am. 52]

2.  Authorisations for national regular services shall be granted unless refusal can be justified on one or more of the grounds listed in points (a) to (c) (ca) of Article 8c(2) and, if the service is carrying passengers over a distance of less up to, but no more than 100 kilometres as the crow flies journey distance, in point (d) of Article 8c(2). [Am. 53]

3.  The distance referred to in paragraph 2 may be increased to 120 kilometres if the regular service to be introduced will serve a point of departure and a destination which are already served by more than one public service contract. [Am. 54]

Article 8c

Decisions of authorising authorities

1.  Following the procedure laid down in Articles 8, 8a or 8b, the authorising authority shall grant the authorisation, grant the authorisation with limitations or reject the application. The authorising authority shall inform all the competent authorities referred to in Article 8(1) of its decision.

2.  Decisions rejecting an application, or granting authorisation with limitations, or suspending or withdrawing authorisation shall state the reasons on which they are based and, where applicable, take into account the analyses of the regulatory body. The applicant or the carrier operating the service concerned shall have the possibility to appeal the decisions of the authorising authority. [Am. 55]

Authorising authorities shall not reject an application solely on the grounds that the carrier requesting authorisation offers lower prices than those offered by other road carriers or unless the regulatory authority or other relevant national bodies establish that the applicant seeking to enter the market is planning to offer services below their normal value for an extended period of time, and that in doing so it is likely to undermine fair competition. Authorising authorities shall not reject an application solely due to the fact that the link in question is already operated by other road carriers. [Am. 60]

3.  Member States shall ensure that decisions taken by the authorising authority are subject to judicial review. That review may have suspensive effect only when the immediate effect of the authorising authority’s decision may cause irretrievable or manifestly excessive damages for the appellant. This provision is without prejudice to the powers of the court hearing the appeal as conferred by constitutional law of the Member State concerned.

Article 8d

Limitation of the right of access

1.  Member States may limit the right of access to the international and national market for regular bus and coach services if the proposed regular service carries passengers over distances of less than up to 100 kilometres as the crow flies journey distance and if the service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract, or over any distance if it occurs in an urban or suburban centre or conurbation, or meets the transport needs between it and the surrounding areas, or that the applicant has not complied with road transport or other relevant provisions of national, Union or international law. [Am. 61]

1a.  Where a competent authority has granted exclusive rights to an undertaking performing a public service in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007, the protection of the exclusive rights shall only relate to the operation of public passenger transport services serving the same or alternative routes. That grant of exclusive rights shall not preclude the authorisation of new regular services where those services are not competing with the service provided in the public service contract, or operate on other routes. [Am. 62]

2.  The competent authorities that awarded a public service contract or the public service operators performing the public service contract may request the regulatory body to carry out an analysis of whether the economic equilibrium of the public service contract would be compromised.

Where such a request has been received, the regulatory body shall examine the request and may decide whether to carry out the economic analysis in accordance with point(d) of Article 8c(2)unless there are exceptional practical or other reasons justifying a decision not to do so. It shall inform the interested parties of its decision. [Am. 63]

3.  Where the regulatory body carries out an economic analysis, it shall inform all interested parties of the results of that analysis and its conclusions within six weeks as soon as possible, and no later than 3 months following receipt of all relevant information. The regulatory body may conclude that the authorisation is to be granted, is to be granted subject to conditions or is to be rejected. [Am. 64]

The conclusions of the regulatory body shall be binding on the authorising authorities.

4.  The competent authorities and the public service operators shall provide the regulatory body with the necessary information for the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3.

5.  The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 establishing the procedure and criteria to be followed for the application of this Article, in particular in carrying out the economic analysis; [Am. 65]

5a.  Member States may further liberalise the authorisation system for national regular services with regard to authorisation procedures and kilometre thresholds."; [Am. 66]

(12)  in Article 9, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:"

“Articles 8, 8a, 8b and 8c shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to applications for the renewal of authorisations or for alteration of the conditions under which the services subject to authorisation must be carried out.”;

(13)  the title of Chapter IV is replaced by the following:"

“SPECIAL REGULAR SERVICES EXEMPT FROM AUTHORISATION”

(13a)  in Article 11, the following paragraph is added:"

"3a. A Member State may decide to require a non-resident carrier to comply with the conditions relating to the requirement of establishment, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council*, in the host Member State after authorisation for a national regular service has been granted to this carrier and before the carrier starts to operate the relevant service. Such decisions shall state the reasons on which they are based. The decision shall take into account the size and duration of the activity of the non-resident carrier in the host Member State. If the host Member State establishes that the non-resident carrier does not satisfy the requirement of establishment, it may withdraw the relevant authorisations granted to it for national regular services or suspend them until the requirement is met.

______________________

* Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator and repealing Council Directive 96/26/EC (OJ L 300, 14.11.2009, p. 51).”; [Am. 67]

(14)  in Article 12, paragraphs 1 to 5 are deleted;

(15)  Article 13 is deleted; [Am. 68]

(16)  Article 15 is replaced by the following:"

“Article 15

Authorised cabotage operations

(16a)  in Article 16(1), the introductory part is replaced by the following:"

"1. The performance of the cabotage operations shall be subject, save as otherwise provided in Community legislation, to Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council* and the laws, regulations and administrative provisions in force in the host Member State with regard to the following:

______________

* 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 services (OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1).”; [Am. 72]

(17)  Article 17 is deleted; [Am. 73]

(17a)  Article 17 is replaced by the following:"

“Article 17

Control documents for cabotage operations

1.  Cabotage operations in the form of occasional services shall be carried out under cover of a journey form as referred to in Article 12 on paper or in digital format which shall be kept on board the vehicle and be presented at the request of any authorised inspecting officer inspector.

2.  The following information shall be entered in the journey form:

3.  The journey forms shall be supplied in books as referred to in Article 12 certified by the competent authority or body in the Member State of establishment.

4.  In the case of special regular services, the contract concluded between the carrier and the transport organiser, or a certified true copy thereof, shall serve as the control document. However, a journey form shall be filled out in the form of a monthly statement.

However, a journey form shall be filled out in the form of a monthly statement.

5.  The journey forms used shall be returned to the competent authority or body in the Member State of establishment in accordance with procedures to be laid down by that authority or body. During checks, the driver shall be allowed to contact the head office, the transport manager or any other person or entity which may provide the requested documents."; [Am. 74]

(18)  in Article 19(2), the first sentence is replaced by the following:"

“2. Carriers operating cabotage or international carriage of passengers by coach and bus shall allow all inspections intended to ensure that operations are being conducted correctly, in particular as regards driving and rest periods.”;

(19)  Article 20 is replaced by the following:"

“Article 20

Mutual assistance

1.  Member States shall assist one another in ensuring the application and monitoring of this Regulation. They shall exchange information via the national contact points established pursuant to Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009.

2.  The regulatory bodies shall cooperate when carrying out economic analyses of whether proposed regular services would compromise a public service contract for the international operation of public transport services. The authorising authority shall consult the regulatory bodies of all other Member States through which the international regular service concerned runs and, where appropriate, shall request all necessary information from them before taking its decision.”;

(20)  Article 26 is replaced by the following:"

“Article 26

Exercise of the delegation

1.  The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2.  The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 4(2), 5(5), 6(4), 7(2), 8d(5) and 28(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from ... [date of entry into force of this Regulation].

3.  The delegation of power referred to in Articles 4(2), 5(5), 6(4), 7(2), 8d(5) and 28(3) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4.  Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

5.  As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6.  A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles 4(2), 5(5), 6(4), 7(2), 8d(5) and 28(3) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.”;

(21)  Article 28 is replaced by the following:"

“Article 28

Reporting

1.  Each year, by 31 January at the latest, and for the first time by 31 January [… the first January following the entry into force of this Regulation] the competent authorities of the Member States shall communicate to the Commission the number of authorisations for regular services issued the previous year and the total number of authorisations for regular services valid on 31 December of that year. That information shall be given separately for each Member State of destination of the regular service. Member States shall also communicate to the Commission the data concerning cabotage operations, in the form of special regular services and occasional services, carried out during the previous year by resident carriers. [Am. 75]

2.  Each year, by 31 January at the latest and, for the first time by 31 January [… the first January following the entry into force of this Regulation], the competent authorities in the host Member State shall provide the Commission with statistics on the number of authorisations issued for cabotage operations in the form of the regular services referred to in point (c) of Article 15 during the previous year.

3.  The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 to establish the format of the table to be used for the communication of the statistics referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and the data to be provided.

4.  Each year, by 31 January at the latest and, for the first time by 31 January [… the first January following the entry into force of this Regulation], Member States shall inform the Commission of the number of carriers holding a Community licence as of 31 December of the previous year and of the number of certified copies corresponding to the number of vehicles in circulation on that date.

5.  By … [please insert the date calculated 5 years after the date of application of this Regulation], the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of this Regulation. The report shall include information on the extent to which this Regulation has contributed to a better functioning road passenger transport market system, in particular for passengers, the bus and coach workforce and the environment.". [Am. 76]

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from [XX].

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at ...,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

(1) OJ C 262, 25.7.2018, p. 47. (2) OJ C 387, 25.10.2018, p. 70. (3) Position of the European Parliament of 14 February 2019. (4) Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services, and amending Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 (OJ L 300, 14.11.2009, p. 88). (5) Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70 (OJ L 315, 3.12.2007, p. 1). (6) Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on tachographs in road transport, repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on recording equipment in road transport and amending Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport (OJ L 60, 28.2.2014, p. 1). (7) OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.