Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-22-Speech-3-339"
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"en.20090422.54.3-339"2
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"Mr President, Mr Svoboda, honourable Members, the Commission cannot fail to be delighted with the compromise reached on the road package, since it enables us to conclude the legislative procedure at a time when the transport industry needs to have simple and effective rules and be set free from pointless red tape.
That is why I said at the beginning of my speech that the laws about to be passed by this House make a serious and important contribution to our joint battle, as Commission and Parliament, to reduce drastically the number of road traffic casualties. I would therefore like to thank you for your willingness to adopt these laws so quickly.
Let me repeat, this is a strong signal we are giving to European citizens, demonstrating once again that Parliament – and I say this not least because I served in this House for 15 years – has shown great efficiency and seriousness, for which I am grateful.
I have to say that the decision we are taking will also help to make our roads safer, because I believe that whenever we take action in the sector of transport and especially road transport, we must always keep sight of our goal to halve the number of casualties on EU roads. The rules that Parliament is adopting do, I think, help to achieve this objective.
We are also happy because this is another signal the European institutions are sending to citizens on the eve of the elections, and because the legislative procedure can be concluded at second reading, just two years after three major and complex legislative proposals were tabled. They have perhaps made for difficult debate, but at the end of the day institutional and common sense has prevailed, as has the political will to meet the demands of citizens and the transport sector in general.
I would like to take a quick look at the reports we are debating, in order to give some answers to the questions asked by the rapporteurs. I will begin with access to the international market for coach or bus transport services: it is true that cabotage represents a very limited section of the transport business as a whole, but, politically, it is a highly sensitive area. If used in a way that complements international transport, cabotage also contributes towards a better use of capacity and a reduction in unladen journeys, meaning a reduction in the number of heavy goods vehicles on the road – and you will be aware of how many road accidents involve large vehicles. This regulation will clarify the rules on cabotage, which will be applicable – and I refer here particularly to Mr Grosch’s comment – in a uniform and non-bureaucratic fashion throughout the EU, without affecting existing cooperation between Member States under Article 306 of the Treaty. Furthermore, cumbersome national procedures still in force will be abolished, in order to enable transport firms to make the best use of the possibilities of cabotage. The Commission will keep a close eye on the evolution of the road transport market and will publish a report in 2013.
If deemed appropriate in that report and if the conditions for fair competition have been better harmonised, the Commission will propose that the cabotage market be opened up further. The Commission has made a statement to this effect, which will be sent to the Parliament Secretariat for inclusion in the reports of this debate. This statement will also be published in the Official Journal, alongside the legislative proposal.
I now come to Mrs Ţicău’s work on common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator. The Commission welcomes the introduction of a new 12-day rule. This is a tailor-made measure that takes account of the very particular conditions of certain types of passenger transport that allow for a longer period than six days, but do not normally require a large number of driving hours, for example school trips, skiing holidays and certain excursions. The new legislation also stipulates extremely rigorous measures so that road safety is not threatened, I can assure you. There are currently 100 different types of Community licences in force in the EU, which often makes for difficult and lengthy checks. Under the new legislation, there will be just one type and one standard format of Community licence used throughout the Union.
I now come to the third text in question: access to the international road haulage market. In an increasingly open market, we need to harmonise the conditions imposed on the companies that compete in this market. That is the purpose of the new regulation, which replaces a directive and at the same time tightens up the conditions that companies must meet. Each firm will have to appoint a transport manager to be responsible for the efficient running of the business as a whole.
In addition, in order to avoid ‘dummy companies’, further guarantees must be supplied as regards companies’ registered offices. Further still, a new electronic register will be compiled in order to step up information sharing between national authorities and to make controls more intelligent and efficient. This, too, helps to ensure road safety.
Finally, transport businesses are today receiving a very clear message from legislators concerning the more serious failings that lead to licences being withdrawn, for example the repeated cases of tachograph tampering. This is unfortunately a practice that takes place in all EU countries, but the tampering not only constitutes a breach of the rules, it also threatens the safety of those who travel on Europe’s roads, as it is clear that tired drivers are not able to respond quickly should problems arise."@en1
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