Annexes to COM(2019)84 - Implementation-report from 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2016 of certain provisions of the Regulation on the conditions to pursue the occupation of road transport operator

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dossier COM(2019)84 - Implementation-report from 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2016 of certain provisions of the Regulation on the conditions to ...
document COM(2019)84 EN
date February 18, 2019
Annex I to this report.

Most of the authorisations granted in 2015 and 2016 concern road hauliers (91% overall) and only a small share of authorisations concern passenger transport operators (9%).


2.2 Authorisations withdrawn and suspended

On the basis of data reported by twenty five Member States 18 , the total number of authorisations withdrawn or suspended during the period 2015-2016 was 130,998. It can be observed that the highest number of withdrawals and suspensions of authorisations was reported in Spain and amounted to 76,534 for passenger and goods transport. At the other end of the scale, very few withdrawals and suspensions were recorded in Portugal (1), Ireland (7), Luxembourg (13) and Romania (15). Detailed information on withdrawals and suspended authorisations is included in Annex II to this report.

Withdrawals and suspensions of authorisations were largely due to the expiry of the authorisation / Community licence, winding up of the company or on request by the operators in most of the Member States which reported on the reasons for such withdrawals and suspensions.

However, Spain indicated that the main reason for withdrawal or suspension of authorisations was non-compliance with the four requirements on access to profession (47,719 withdrawals on that basis). In Sweden, the main reason for withdrawals was non-compliance with the requirement of effective and stable establishment (1,514 withdrawals on this basis), as well as in Estonia (167) and Slovenia (55). In the United Kingdom, the main reason for withdrawals was lack of good repute (466 withdrawals and suspensions on this basis).


3. Certificates of professional competence

Certificates of professional competence attesting the written and oral examinations successfully passed by the candidate drivers are issued by the competent authorities and constitute proof of professional competence, as provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009.

On the basis of information provided by twenty five Member States 19 , 477,761 certificates of professional competence were issued during the reporting period. This number includes certificates granted on the basis of examination as provided by Article 8 of Regulation EC (No) 1071/2009 and through recognition of experience, following an exemption specified in Article 9 of this Regulation.

The biggest share of certificates granted in the EU during this reporting period was in Spain (388,218), followed by the Netherlands (25,597), Romania (20,960), Poland (7,100) and France (6,616). Detailed information is presented in Annex III to this report.

4. Transport managers declared unfit

In accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009, when a transport manager loses his good repute, the competent authority should declare the transport manager unfit to manage the transport activities of an undertaking.

Declarations of unfitness were issued in ten of the reporting Member States: Austria (3), Belgium (5), Denmark (82), Germany (5), Spain (17), Estonia (11), Finland (15), Italy (72), Sweden (49) and United Kingdom (253). The data provided by Member States can be found in Annex II to this report.

5. Exchange of information

According to Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 each Member State should keep a national register of road transport undertakings that have been authorised to engage in the occupation of road transport operator. Minimum requirements for the data to be entered in these registers and common rules on their interconnection through the European Register of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU) are defined in Commission Decision (EU) 2016/480 20 . Notably, this data covers the good repute of the transport undertakings, serious infringements committed and data on the Community licences.

The establishment of the ERRU was envisaged as a next step to facilitate cooperation between the national authorities for the purpose of further enhancement of cross-border enforcement of the European road transport legislation in accordance with Article 16(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009. The ERRU register should simplify cross-border enforcement, making it more cost-effective, provided that all Member States are connected and that they effectively use the system exchanging quality data contained in their databases. The interconnection of national registers was to be achieved by 31 December 2012.

Despite significant delays by some Member States, all Member States have now interconnected their national electronic registers of road transport undertakings.

Several Member States noted that participation in ERRU resulted in better cooperation and exchange of information between Member States and improved the effectiveness of their national electronic registers. A significant amount of information exchanges regarding serious infringements and good repute has been registered notably in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Slovenia and Sweden. Most of these exchanges concern requests for checks of good repute sent to and received from other Member States. It is noteworthy that the volume of information exchanges has increased very significantly when compared to the previous reporting period 21 . This would seem to indicate that the completion of the interconnection of the national electronic registers is encouraging further use of ERRU and that Member States in general are stepping up their use of the platform. The data provided by Member States can be found in Annex IV to this report.

IV.Conclusions

This report provides an overview of information submitted by Member States under Article 26 of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 on access to the occupation of road transport operator. This information covers the aspects of the implementation by Member States of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 listed in Article 26(1) of that Regulation during the period from 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2016.

The quality and timeliness of submissions from Member States was highly variable, affecting the overall quality of this report. Due to some missing data on certain aspects of the Regulation, this report could not provide for a complete analysis of implementation of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009. However, both the number of Member States having reported and the depth of the data reported have substantially improved in relation to the previous reporting period.

It is worth underlining that the system of administrative cooperation between Member States has greatly progressed by the time of drafting this report. However, The Commission also supports its further enhancement, which would strengthen consistent and effective implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 across all EU Member States.

The Commission reminds Member States of their obligation to provide the complete report containing all the elements of data listed in Article 26(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 within the required timeframe in order to allow for a fully-fledged report and to avoid infringement procedures under Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Commission also urges Member States to use the standard reporting form for the purpose of consistency of national submissions.


(1)

OJ L 300, 14.11.2009, p. 51

(2)

Under Article 2(1) of the Regulation, ‘the occupation of road haulage operator’ means the activity of any undertaking transporting goods for hire or reward by means either of motor vehicles or combinations of vehicles.

(3)

Under Article 2(2) of the Regulation, ‘the occupation of road passenger transport operator’ means the activity of any undertaking operating, by means of motor vehicles so constructed and equipped as to be suitable for carrying more than nine persons, including the driver, and intended for that purpose, passenger transport services for the public or for specific categories of users in return for payment by the person transported or by the transport organiser.

(4)

Under Article 1(4) of the Regulation, 'Member States may, however, lower this limit for all or some categories of road transport operations'.

(5)

COM(2014)592 final, 25/9/2014.

(6)

COM(2017)116 final, 7/3/2017.

(7)

Referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 (OJ L 102, 11.4.2006, p. 1).

(8)

  https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/road/news/2017-05-31-europe-on-the-move_en

(9)

  http://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/evaluations/doc/2015-12-ex-post-evaluation-regulations-2009r1071-and-2009r1072.pdf

(10)

  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52017SC0194

(11)

This national requirement is however not compliant with the conditions set out in the Regulation, which led the European Court of Justice to render a judgement on 8 February 2018 obliging Spain to repeal this requirement (Judgement of the European Court of Justice in case C-181/17 – European Commission v Spain).

(12)

See table 4 of the impact assessment report referred to in footnote no. 10.

(13)

See Article 7(1) thereof.

(14)

Greece and the Netherlands reported only the number of freight operators.

(15)

Greece and the Netherlands reported only the number of freight operators.

(16)

Three Member States did not report on the number of passenger transport operators and one Member State did not report on the number of freight transport operators.

(17)

Austria, Portugal, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom.

(18)

Malta, Hungary and Cyprus did not report on this point.

(19)

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

(20)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/480 of 1 April 2016 establishing common rules concerning the interconnection of national electronic registers on road transport undertakings and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1213/2010; OJ L 87, 2.4.2016, p. 4.

(21)

Despite the fact that several Member States did not report on information exchanges in the previous reporting period, the increase between the two reporting periods is very significant.