Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-20-Speech-2-301"
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"en.20080520.27.2-301"2
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"Regulations regarding access to the international road passenger and freight transport market, together with the Regulation regarding access to the profession of road operator form a package. These subjects are inextricably connected. I am very pleased to see these three texts subject to a vote today in order to establish your position at a first reading. I thank your Rapporteurs, Mrs. Ţicău and Mr. Grosch, for their work, as well as all the members who have contributed to it. A rapid agreement is necessary for the following reasons: the European Council of March 2007 expressed its wish in this respect; the sector in question, more than 900,000 enterprises, wants to harmonise the conditions for access to the profession in order to have a loyal competition and clear rules regarding this restricted but delicate problem, namely cabotage.
15 years after the first regulations regarding access to road transport, the market continues to be fragmented, with 27 national versions of rules as regards the control of access to the profession and the definition of the good repute required for this access. I will also remind you, one more time, of the divergent interpretations of the notion “temporary” as regards cabotage. Consequently, it was about time to stimulate the progress in integrating the internal market in the field of road transportation. A rapid agreement is possible. I have the feeling that the Council’s and your positions can be directed even more toward a common point. With the help of the Slovenian and the French Presidency, I believe it is possible to reach an agreement soon. I can assure you of my support, at least in principle, regarding most of the amendments proposed by the Committee on Transport and Tourism. Since the detailed position of the Commission regarding each amendment submitted has already been transmitted to the relevant Parliament service, my reserves or observations will focus only on a few matters.
The first one, the matter of the cabotage, seems to be a major item of this package. Yet, no solution will be good unless it is controllable. The essential quality of the Commission’s proposal is precisely the clarity, simplicity and controllability of the mechanism introduced: three operations within the seven days following an international transport. This relation to an international transport is generally recognized and, exactly for this reason, I understand the interest raised by amendment 17 of the Grosch report, which provides the performance of cabotage operations in a transit country on the shortest way back. Nevertheless, the proposed formulation makes the amendment difficult to control – and I cannot support it for this reason. On the other hand, in order to avoid empty races, I believe we could control a provision saying that one of the three operations within seven days can be performed in a transit country within a maximum of three days. I would have no trouble with supporting an amendment in this respect. It is the same with amendments 18, 37, 40, 44 and 47, which provide that restrictions regarding the number and duration of cabotage operations shall be eliminated gradually, until their complete elimination in 2014.
We have to take into consideration the market reality in various Member States. The fiscal, social, and salary conditions are still very disparate due to the absence of sufficient harmonization and I am afraid they will remain the same in 2014 as well. The proposed package will certainly contribute to this harmonization as regards the control of access to the profession but it could not guarantee a sufficient degree of harmonization by itself. Under these circumstances, an automatic liberalization of cabotage would result in a deformation, and not a consolidation of competition conditions. Therefore, a clause of subsequent review of this matter seems more appropriate to me. I mention that, until this review, it goes without saying that the regulation does not prevent Member States in any way from completely opening their cabotage markets provided that they do this without any discrimination against the other Member States or under agreements between the national governments prior to the Community rules in force regarding market access.
Amendment 21, as formulated, omits these specifications and, consequently, cannot be supported by the Commission. As regards access to the profession, the aspect of good repute and serious infringements of the law is essential. I believe the procedure you propose, regarding the withdrawal of good repute in case of a serious infringement of the law, has a great dissuasive power, still remaining appropriate. I welcome in particular amendment 104 of Mrs. Ţicău’s report, which provides a very clear list of these infringements. Therefore, we can support the Parliament’s proposal as regards article 6. The European Companies Register has a special importance in guaranteeing the control of good repute. In this respect, in principle, we support amendments 70, from 72 to 78 and 114, which provide for a rapid and progressive introduction of interconnected national registers.
Lastly, the draft regulation allows small businesses to resort to so-called external administrators. In other words, they are administrators who do not work directly in these small businesses. Amendment 27 does not establish limits for this possibility which, in my opinion, should remain an exception and not become a rule. Therefore, I cannot support it. Yet, I could support amendment 109, which provides for a reasonable limit of 50 vehicles. Finally, as regards the issue of the 12 days, I remember the former amendment 102 in Mrs. Ţicău’s report, which refers to the reintroduction of the so-called 12-day derogation in the case of coaches. I agree with the plenary session’s choice to vote this amendment in Mr. Grosch’s report regarding buses. The Commission has not adopted a position on the content for the moment. At present, the social partners are working on this subject and we have to wait for the result of the first exchanges in order not to legislate in a hurry. A more detailed re-examination of this matter will be necessary as soon as an agreement is reached between these partners, yet without slowing down the progress in reaching an agreement on cabotage and the register."@en1
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