Regulation 2018/974 - Statistics of goods transport by inland waterways (codification) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 179/14

Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) has been substantially amended several times (3). In the interests of clarity and rationality, that Regulation should be codified.

Inland waterways are an important part of the Union's transport networks and the promotion of inland waterways transport is one of the objectives of the common transport policy, both for reasons of economic efficiency and in order to reduce energy consumption and the environmental impact of transport.

The Commission needs statistics concerning the transport of goods by inland waterways in order to monitor and develop the common transport policy, as well as the transport elements of policies on the regions and on trans-European networks.

European statistics on all modes of transport should be collected according to common concepts and standards, with the aim of achieving the fullest practicable comparability between transport modes.

Inland waterways transport does not occur in all Member States and, therefore, the effect of this Regulation is limited to those Member States where this mode of transport exists.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) provides a reference framework for the provisions laid down by this Regulation.

In order to take into account economic and technical trends and changes in definitions adopted at international level, 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 in respect of amending this Regulation to raise the threshold above 1 000 000 tonnes for statistical coverage of inland waterways transport, to adapt definitions or provide for new ones, as well as to adapt the Annexes to this Regulation to reflect changes in coding and nomenclature at international level or in the relevant Union legislative acts. 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 accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (5). In particular, in order to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

The Commission should ensure that those delegated acts do not impose a significant additional burden on the Member States or on the respondents.

In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission so as to enable it to adopt arrangements for transmitting data, including data interchange standards, for the dissemination of results by the Commission (Eurostat) and also to develop and to publish methodological requirements and criteria designed to ensure...