EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 10.12.2020 COM(2020) 826 final 2020/0362 (COD)
Proposal for a
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on common rules ensuring basic
road freight and road passenger connectivity
following the end of the transition period mentioned in the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community
(Text with EEA relevance)
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
Since 1 February 2020, the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community1 (‘the Withdrawal Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision (EU) 2020/1352 and entered into force on 1 February 2020. The transition period referred to in Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement, during which Union law continues to apply to and in the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 127 of that agreement, ends on 31 December 2020.
On 25 February 2020, the Council adopted Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/266 authorising the opening of negotiations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for a new partnership agreement.3 As implied by the negotiation directives, the authorisation covers inter alia the elements needed to address comprehensively the road transport relationship with the United Kingdom after the end of the transition period.
However, it is uncertain whether an agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom governing their future relationship in this area will have entered into force by the end of that period.
All rights and obligations ensuing from Union law in respect of access to the road transport market, as established by Regulation (EC) No 1072/20094 and Regulation (EC) No 1073/20095, will end on 31 December 2020, when the transition period established by the Withdrawal Agreement will expire. This will result in the loss of validity of Community licences issued by the United Kingdom to road haulage operators and to bus and coach operators, and thereby loss of access to the Union’s road haulage and passengers market for holders of such licences. Similarly, European Union road haulage and bus and coach operators, on the basis of the existing Community licences, will equally lose automatic access to the United Kingdom’s road freight and passenger transport market.
It follows that, in the absence of an agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom governing the matter, after the end of the transition period, the multilateral quota system of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) would become the only available legal framework on which the continuation of road freight transport services could be based, subject to the possession of an ECMT permit. A vehicle equipped with an ECMT permit may carry goods between any of the 43 countries participating in the system, among which are 26 of the EU Member States (all but Cyprus), the United Kingdom, and 16 other countries.
1 OJ L 29, 31.1.2020, p. 7.
2 Council Decision (EU) 2020/135 of 30 January 2020 on the conclusion of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 29, 31.1.2020, p. 1).
3 OJ L 58, 27.2.2020, p. 53
4 Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 on common rules for access to the international road haulage market (OJ L 300, 14.11.2009, p. 72).
5 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).
Following an international haulage operation from the country of registration of the vehicle to another ECMT country, up to three operations where the country of registration is not involved are possible before the vehicle has to return to the country where it is registered.
The number of ECMT permits is limited for each Member State and permits for 2021 have already been distributed at national level by the competent authorities of each Member State. Their number cannot be increased at short notice. ECMT quotas are set annually and any changes to the number of permits allocated to an ECMT country have to be agreed unanimously by all ECMT countries.
As already highlighted in Regulation (EU) 2019/501 of the European Parliament and of the Council which was adopted on 25 March 20196, considering the volumes of road freight transport services and the goods carried by road between the United Kingdom and the Union (around 51 million tonnes in 2019; some 29 million tonnes from the Union to the United Kingdom and some 22 million tonnes from the United Kingdom to the Union), it is evident that reliance solely on the ECMT quota system does not currently constitute an adequate solution to ensure basic road freight transport connectivity immediately after the end of the transition period.
The carriage of goods by road between the United Kingdom and the Member States is almost entirely in the hands of United Kingdom and Union road haulage operators. The loss by those operators of their right to provide road freight transport between the United Kingdom and the Union would therefore result in serious disruptions including in respect of public order.
As far as passenger transport by bus and coach is concerned, in the absence of an agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom governing the matter, the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus7 (“Interbus Agreement”) is the only available legal framework that could provide, after the end of the transition period, a basis for the carriage of passengers by bus and coach between the Union and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom deposited its instrument of accession to the Interbus Agreement on 29 October 2020. It will therefore become a Contracting Party in its own right on 1 January 2021.
However, the Interbus Agreement covers only occasional services and is, therefore, inadequate to address the disruptions ensuing from the end of the application of Union law to and in the United Kingdom, given the high number of persons that would continue to seek to travel between the Union and the United Kingdom. A Protocol to the Interbus Agreement covering regular and special regular passenger transport services by coach and bus was negotiated between its Contracting Parties, but it is not expected to enter into force in time to offer a viable alternative solution for the period immediately after the end of the transition period. Therefore, in the case of regular and special regular passenger transport services by coach and bus, the current instruments do not address the needs of such services between, on the one side, the Union and, on the other side, the United Kingdom.
Cross-border coach and bus services between Ireland and the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland are of particular importance for communities living in the border regions, in view of ensuring basic connectivity between communities inter alia as part of the Common Travel Area. No instrument exists that could address the need for coach and bus operators
6 Regulation (EU) 2019/501 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 March 2019 on common rules ensuring basic road freight and road passenger connectivity with regard to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the Union (OJ L 85, 27.3.2019, p. 39).
7 OJ L 321, 26.11.2002, p. 13.
operating regular or special regular services to pick up and set down passengers in regions on the other side of the border. However, the economic viability of many cross-border services is at risk without the right to carry out cabotage operations. It is therefore appropriate for the Union to adopt temporary and time-limited contingency measures to mitigate such potentially disruptive effects for connectivity between the Union and the United Kingdom.
The present proposal thus has the objective to lay down temporary measures to govern the carriage of goods by road as well as the provision of regular and special regular passenger transport services between, on the one side, the Union and, on the other side, the United Kingdom following the end of the transition period referred to in Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement (Article 1). These measures are intended to maintain basic connectivity for a strictly time-limited period (Article 2).
Gibraltar is not included in the territorial scope of this Regulation and any reference to the United Kingdom therein does not include Gibraltar.
In the first place (Article 3), the proposed Regulation provides for the unilateral granting of rights for bilateral carriage to road haulage operators established in United Kingdom so that they can continue to carry goods between their territory and the Union.
The proposed Regulation also provides (Article 4) for the unilateral granting of rights for the bilateral carriage of passengers by coach and bus as part of regular or special regular services to bus and coach operators established in the United Kingdom so that they can continue to carry passengers between their territory and the Union. The Regulation further provides for the unilateral granting of rights to pick up and set down passengers in the border region of Ireland in the course of international regular and special regular services between Ireland and the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland.
The rights granted to United Kingdom road operators are subject to conformity with the relevant Union law applicable to road freight and road passenger transport operators (Article
6) and equivalent rights being granted by the United Kingdom to Union road operators. The proposed Regulation lays down a mechanism (Article 7) to ensure that the rights enjoyed by Union road operators in the United Kingdom are equivalent to those granted to United Kingdom road operators under the proposed Regulation. If that is not the case, the Commission is empowered to adopt the necessary measures to correct the situation by means of delegated acts, including the limitation to the allowable capacity available to United Kingdom road operators or to the number of journeys or to both. The assessment of the level of equivalence and the adoption of corrective measures by the Commission are not solely linked to strict, formal correspondence between the two legal orders; this is because of the marked differences between the respective markets and in order to avoid a blind mirroring approach which might in the end prove counter to the Union interest.
The proposed Regulation, even though it aims to temporarily ensure basic connectivity for road freight and road passenger transport, lays down a flexible mechanism to ensure that Union road haulage operators and coach and bus service operators enjoy fair and equal opportunities to compete with United Kingdom road haulage operators and coach and bus service operators. A level playing field requires that, even after the end of the transition period, the United Kingdom continues to apply sufficiently high and comparable standards in the area of road freight and road passenger transport as regards: fair competition including the regulation of cartels, abuse of dominant position and mergers; the prohibition of unjustified government subsidies; the protection of workers and a high level of road safety; the protection of the environment; safety and security, or relating to the granting of licences to road operators or to the qualification, training and medical controls for professional drivers. Moreover, it must be ensured that Union road operators are not discriminated against in the United Kingdom, be it de jure or de facto. The proposed Regulation thus charges the Commission (Article 8) with the task to monitor the conditions of competition between, on the one hand, Union road operators and, on the other hand United Kingdom road operators and empowers it to adopt the necessary measures, by means of delegated acts, to ensure that those conditions remain level at all times.
The necessary procedures are established so as to enable the Member States and the Commission to verify that United Kingdom road operators carrying goods or passengers under this Regulation are licensed or certified in accordance with relevant standards, that all relevant national and Union legislation is complied with and that the allowed rights are not exceeded.
Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 and Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 already cover the part of a journey between a Member State and a third country on the territory of any Member State crossed in transit. It is necessary to ensure that these regulations also apply to the part of the journey on the territory of the Member State of loading or unloading for freight transport, and to the part of the journey on the territory of the Member State of picking up or setting down passengers for coach and bus services (Article 9). Such an extension will ensure that Union operators can perform cross-trade operations to or from the United Kingdom, as well as additional stops in their coach and bus services.
Explicit provision is made to recall that Member States must not negotiate nor enter into any bilateral road transport agreements with the United Kingdom on matters falling under the scope of this Regulation and that they must not otherwise grant United Kingdom road operatorsany rights other than those granted under this Regulation (Article 5). Nevertheless, the respective competent authorities will be able to cooperate as necessary for the good implementation of the Regulation (Article 10), so that the least possible disturbance is brought to the management of the road haulage and coach and bus services that will continue to be provided after 31 December 2020.
Article 11 establishes the rules on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission to adopt delegated acts to ensure that the rights enjoyed by Union road operators in the United Kingdom are equivalent to those granted to United Kingdom road operators, and that Union carriers are not discriminated against in the United Kingdom.
Article 12 establishes that this Regulation shall start to apply when the transition period established by the Withdrawal Agreement will end, if an agreement governing road transport with the United Kingdom has not entered into force and shall cease to apply at the latest on 30 June 2021. The Regulation will cease to apply at an earlier date, if an agreement governing road transport with the United Kingdom enters into force or is provisionally applied as the case may be, before that date. With the exception of the specific provisions applying in the border region of Ireland in the course of international regular and special regular services between Ireland and the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland, the Regulation shall also cease to apply at an earlier date for the provisions which relate to passenger transport by road, if the Protocol to the Interbus Agreement regarding the international regular and special regular carriage of passengers by coach and bus enters into force for the Union and for the United Kingdom.
This act is part of a package of measures which the Commission is adopting.
This proposed Regulation is intended as a lex specialis that would address some of the consequences ensuing from the fact that Union rules regulating road freight transport and road passenger transport by bus and coach, in particular Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 and Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009, will no longer apply to the carriage of goods and passengers by road between, on the one hand the United Kingdom and, on the other hand the Union. The proposed terms are limited to what is necessary in this respect, so as to avoid disproportionate disruptions. They are intended to apply only for a limited period of time. This proposal is therefore fully consistent with the existing legislation and notably with Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 and Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009.
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