Decision 2023/983 - EU position within the Group of Experts of the European Agreement concerning the work of crews of vehicles engaged in international road transport (AETR), within the Working Party on Road Transport of the UNECE and, if relevant, in relation to a communication by the UN Secretary-General pursuant to Article 21(1) of the AETR, as regards an amendment to introduce a ‘force majeure’ clause - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 134/41

The European Agreement concerning the work of crews of vehicles engaged in international road transport (AETR) (1) entered into force on 5 January 1976. It was last amended on 20 September 2010.

Pursuant to Article 21 of the AETR, proposals of amendments to the Agreement may be submitted by any Contracting Party to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Before submission to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the proposals are first discussed in the Working Party on Road Transport (‘SC.1’) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

A Group of Experts has been established by the UNECE in the framework of the AETR. That group is a body empowered to develop and submit proposals for amending the AETR to the Working Party on Road Transport of the UNECE.

The Group of Experts on AETR, during its 32nd planned session of 12 June 2023, is to discuss a proposal by the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation to amend Article 4 of the AETR by introducing a ‘force majeure’ clause, as laid out in ECE/TRANS/SC.1/GE.21/2023/2/Rev.1.

It is appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in the Group of Experts on the AETR, and possibly in the Working Party on Road Transport of the UNECE, as the amendment to the AETR which they will be called to consider and endorse would be binding under international law in accordance with Article 21(6) of the AETR and is capable of decisively influencing the content of Union legislation, namely Regulations (EC) No 561/2006 (2) and (EU) No 165/2014 (3) of the European Parliament and of the Council.

In its judgment of 31 March 1971 in Case 22/70 (4), the Court of Justice of the European Union recognised that the area of the work of crews of vehicles engaged in road transport is an exclusive external competence of the Union. This competence has been exercised since then in numerous legislative acts adopted by the Union co-legislators, including Regulations (EC) No 561/2006 and (EU) No 165/2014. Since the subject matter of the AETR falls within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, the power to negotiate and conclude the AETR and its modifications lies exclusively with the Union pursuant to Article 3(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The proposed amendment aims at solving a practical problem of the Republic of Belarus and of the Russian Federation that is likely the result of the war of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in which the Republic of Belarus has a complicit role, and which led to the application by the Union of restrictive measures against the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. Those restrictive measures have resulted, among other consequences, in certain companies established in the Union, including companies that usually supply digital tachograph cards and chips to the card issuing authorities of the...