Legal provisions of COM(2017)647 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2017)647 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2017)647  |
| date | November 8, 2017 |
Contents
Article 1
(1) in Article 1, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
“4. This Regulation shall apply to national road passenger services for hire or reward operated by a non-resident carrier as provided for in Chapter V.”;
(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;”;
(c) the following points 9 to 11 are added:
“9. ‘terminal’ means any 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 of passengers;
10. ‘terminal operator’ means any entity responsible for granting access to a terminal;
11. ‘viable alternative’ means another terminal which is economically acceptable to the carrier, and allows it to operate the passenger service concerned.”;
(3) the following Article 3a is inserted before Chapter II:
“Article 3a
Regulatory body
1. Each Member State shall designate a single national 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 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.
The regulatory body may be responsible for other regulated sectors.
2. The regulatory body for the road passenger transport sector shall have the necessary organisational capacity in terms of human and other resources, which shall be proportionate to the importance of that sector in the Member State concerned.
3. The regulatory body shall perform the following tasks:
(a)carry out economic analyses of whether a proposed new service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract;
(b)collect and provide information on access to terminals; and
(c)decide on appeals against decisions of terminal operators.
4. The regulatory body may, in exercising its tasks, request relevant information from the competent authorities, terminal operators, applicants for authorisation and any third party involved within the territory of the Member State concerned.
Information requested shall be supplied within a reasonable period set by the regulatory body and not exceeding one month. In 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.
5. Member States shall ensure that decisions taken by the regulatory body are subject to 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.
6. Decisions taken by the regulatory body shall be made public.”;
(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 5a 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.
2. Terminal operators shall endeavour to accommodate all requests for access in order to ensure optimum use of terminals.
Requests for access may be refused only on the grounds of lack of capacity.
Where a terminal operator refuses a request for access, it shall indicate any viable alternatives.
3. Terminal operators shall publish at least the following information in two or more official languages of the Union:
(a) a list of all services provided, and the prices for those services;
(b) the rules for scheduling the allocation of capacity;
(c) the current timetable and capacity allocation.
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.”;
(7) the following Article 5b 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.
3. The terminal operator shall take a decision on any application for access to a terminal within two months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier. Decisions on access shall state the reasons on which they are based.
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. The regulatory body shall be able to enforce it by means of penalties which are effective, proportionate and dissuasive
The decision shall be subject to judicial review only.";
(7) 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.”;
(8) 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.”;
(9) Article 8 is replaced by the following:
“Article 8
Authorisation procedure for the international carriage of passengers over a distance of less than 100 kilometres as the crow flies
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 100 kilometres as the crow flies. 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.
2. The competent authorities of the Member States whose agreement has been requested shall notify the authorising authority of their decision within three 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.
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 months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier.
4. Authorisation shall be granted unless refusal can be justified on one or more of the grounds listed in points (a) to (d) of Article 8c(2).
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 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 Member States concerned.
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.
(10) the following Articles 8a to 8d are inserted:
“Article 8a
Authorisation procedure for the international carriage of passengers over a distance of 100 kilometres or more as the crow flies
1. The authorising authority shall take a decision on the application within two months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier.
2. Authorisation shall be granted unless refusal can be justified on one or more of the grounds listed in points (a) to (c) of Article 8c(2).
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, a copy of the application, together with copies of any other relevant documentation, and its assessment, for information.
Article 8 - b Authorisation procedure for national regular services
1. The authorising authority shall take a decision on the application within two months of the date of submission of the application by the carrier. This may be extended to four months where an analysis is requested in accordance with Article 8c(2)(d).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) of Article 8c(2) and, if the service is carrying passengers over a distance of less than 100 kilometres as the crow flies, Article 8c(2)(d).
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.
Article 8 - c 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 shall state the reasons on which they are based.
Authorisation shall be granted unless rejection can be justified on one or more of the following grounds:
(a) the applicant is unable to provide the service which is the subject of the application with equipment directly available to it;
(b) 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 serious infringements of Union road transport legislation in particular with regard to the rules applicable to vehicles and driving and rest periods for drivers;
(c) in the case of an application for renewal of authorisation, the conditions of authorisation have not been complied with;
(d) a regulatory body establishes on the basis of an objective economic analysis that the service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract.
Authorising authorities shall not reject an application solely on the grounds that the carrier offers lower prices than those offered by other road carriers or the fact that the link in question is already operated by other road carriers.
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 8 - d Limitation of the right of access
1. Member States may limit the right of access to the international and national market for regular services if the proposed regular service carries passengers over distances of less than 100 kilometres as the crow flies and if the service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract.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.
The regulatory body shall examine the request and decide whether to carry out the economic analysis. It shall inform the interested parties of its decision.
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 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.
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.";
(11) 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.”;
(12) the title of Chapter IV is replaced by the following:
“SPECIAL REGULAR SERVICES EXEMPT FROM AUTHORISATION”
(13) in Article 12, paragraphs 1 to 5 are deleted;
(14) Article 13 is deleted;
(15) Article 15 is replaced by the following:
“Article 15
Authorised cabotage operations
Cabotage operations shall be authorised for the following services:
(a)special regular services carried out on a temporary basis provided that they are covered by a contract concluded between the organiser and the carrier;
(b)occasional services carried out on a temporary basis;
(c)regular services performed in accordance with this Regulation.”;
(16) Article 17 is deleted;
(17) 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.”;
(18) 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.”;
(19) 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.”;
(20) 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] 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.
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 Article 15(c) 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 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."
Article 2 - Entry into force
It shall apply from [XX]
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.