4.5.2. Land Transport: Market Access
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4 Common policies 05 Transport policy played a crucial role in shaping the EU’s transport policy of the modes of transport. It stressed the importance of through numerous legislative procedures. creating an integrated global transport system. The shift of 2. General attitude emphasis towards environmentally friendly modes of transport, whilst maintaining the competitiveness of road The large majority of MEPs have long since demanded an transport, was approved as was the fair charging of integrated global approach to the common transport infrastructure and external costs for each mode of policy. Parliament’s aforementioned legal action against the transport. Additionally, Parliament demanded that Council did much to bring the common transport policy transport should be given the political and budgetary into being. Alongside fundamental support for the consideration warranted by its strategic character and its liberalisation of the transport markets carried out, the EP role as a service of general interest. Parliament continued to stress the necessity of implementing this supplemented this general approach with a multitude of alongside an all-embracing harmonisation of the prevailing speciic demands and proposals for each individual mode social, tax and technological conditions and of safety of transport, transport safety, the schedule, and inancing of standards. Moreover, the EP regularly supported the model the European transport network as well as better of sustainable mobility with speciic proposals and coordination with other EU policy areas. The same applies demands. for the further transport-related topics of intermodality, On 12 February 2003, Parliament adopted a resolution on research, development and new technologies. The the Commission’s White Paper ‘European Transport Policy Commission has already taken up many of these themes in for 2010: a time to decide’. The resolution stressed that the its most recent legislative proposals. idea of sustainability must be the foundation and the standard for the European Transport Policy. Parliament g Nils DANKLEFSEN shared the Commission’s analysis as regards the magnitude 09/2006 of problems relating to transport and the unequal growth 4.5.2. Land transport: market access Legal basis agreements and had also been subject to restrictions, the Title V of the EC Treaty, and in particular Article 71. new regulation abolished all quantitative restrictions (quotas) and price regulations as of 1 January 1993. Since then, access to the market has been subject only to Objectives qualitative requirements that have to be met in order for a To create a single transport market by facilitating the carrier to be granted a Community authorisation, which is exercise, in practice, of freedom of establishment and issued by the Member State in which the company is freedom to provide services throughout the Community. established and which must be recognised by all the other Member States. Achievements Regulation (EC) No 3916/90 of 21 December 1990 A. Road transport introduced a ‘crisis mechanism’ in the event of serious 1. Opening up the freight transport market disruption of the market. (a) International freight transport (b) Cabotage Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 of 26 March 1992 consolidated Rules on so-called ‘cabotage’, i.e. the operation of transport existing legislation on international transport between services within a Member State by a carrier established in Member States and laid down deinitive arrangements on another Member State, have been laid down separately in access to the international freight transport market. The Council Regulation (EEC) No 3118/93 of 25 October 1993. rules apply to transport from or to a Member State or to This regulation introduced unrestricted access to the transport passing through one or more Member States. market for this type of road freight transport operation and Whereas, previously, transport between two Member lifted all existing quantitative restrictions as from 1998. In States had only been possible on the basis of bilateral the case of Member States acceding in 2004 (with the 201 01_2006_4661_txt_EN.indd 201 30-10-2007 14:55:03 exception of Malta, Cyprus and Slovenia), the Accession It lays down the principle of the right of a railway Treaties provided, however, for staggered transitional undertaking in a Member State to have access to the periods of up to ive years. infrastructure in other Member States. The rail market has The above legal framework created the conditions for a also been further opened up by two so-called ‘rail liberalised road freight transport market in the European infrastructure packages’. Union. In order to create fair conditions of competition, Directive 91/440/EEC has been amended by Directive further harmonisation was, however, needed in terms of 2001/12/EC of 26 February 2001. The directive provided for social, technical and iscal conditions ("4.5.3.). access, from March 2003, by international freight transport 2. Opening up the passenger transport market services to the Trans-European Rail Freight Network. From 15 March 2008 the whole of the European network for (a) International passenger transport international rail freight services was to be opened up. In In contrast to road freight transport, progress in opening addition, the directive provided for the introduction of up the market for passenger transport services has been separate organisational units for the provision of rail slower. transport services and the operation of infrastructure, as Regulation (EC) No 684/92 of 16 March 1992 helped open well as introducing separate accounting for passenger and up the market for international coach and bus services, by freight transport services. The aim was to ensure that the permitting all carriers from the Community to operate allocation of infrastructure capacity, the levying of charges international passenger transport services between for use and the granting of authorisations is carried out Member States. The regulation was supplemented and independently of the provision of transport services, and revised by Regulation (EC) No 11/98 of 9 January 1998, to ensure balanced, non-discriminatory access to rail which introduced a Community licence for commercial infrastructure. Under the second rail infrastructure carriers that are entitled to carry persons by coach and bus package, the opening up of the market was taken a step in their country of establishment. Carriers must keep the further by Directive 2004/51/EC of 29 April 2004. The full Community licence with them as proof that they are opening up of the freight transport market, including entitled to operate services in their home country. cabotage, is now to take place from 1 January 2007. The International regular services also require authorisation, agreement on the second rail infrastructure package which is issued under a simpliied procedure. included a declaration by the European Parliament (EP/ (b) National transport (cabotage) Parliament) and the Council of Ministers that the aim was to open up the market for international rail passenger Regulation (EC) No 12/98 of 11 December 1997 has services by 2010. opened up the market for occasional services (by coach and bus), regular special services covered by a contract (b) Allocation of infrastructure capacity between the organiser and the carrier (such as for the Directive 95/19/EC of 19 June 1995 aimed to guarantee fair transport of workers or students) and regular services and non-discriminatory access to infrastructure. An operated as part of an international service. important aspect was the requirement to set up a system The market has not as yet been opened up for the following for the charging of infrastructure fees based on actual costs, services: national services operated independently of an with the fees being collected by an independent body. As international service and urban, suburban and regional part of the irst railway package, this directive was replaced services, even when supplied as part of an international by Directive 2001/14/EC of 26 February 2001, which gives a service. Non-resident carriers may be refused permission by more precise deinition of railway undertakings’ rights in the competent authorities to operate such services. relation to the allocation of infrastructure capacity, and introduces a procedure for alleviating capacity constraints. B. Rail transport With the adoption of the second railway package, this 1. Legislation directive and Directive 95/18/EC were amended by (a) Access to infrastructure Directive 2004/49/EC of 29 April 2004. The aim was to Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development harmonise the legislative framework in the Member States of the Community’s railways requires the Member States: and to develop common safety targets and methods. A system was introduced for the issuing, content and validity — to aford railway undertakings the status of independent of safety certiicates, and the principle of an independent operators and ensure that they are commercially technical investigation in the event of accidents was managed; established. The key elements of common safety systems — to separate the accounts for the operation of for infrastructure managers and railway undertakings were infrastructure and the provision of transport services. also laid down. 202 01_2006_4661_txt_EN.indd 202 30-10-2007 14:55:03 4 Common policies 05 Transport policy 2. Outlook: revitalising the railways Commission proposal of 26 July 2000 proposed replacing In 1996 the Commission already formulated a strategy for this with a new regulation aimed at developing revitalising the railways, which was reinforced in September competition in public passenger transport services, in 2001 by the publication of the White Paper entitled particular public local and regional transport services, with ‘European transport policy for 2010: time to decide’. This the help of compulsory public tendering. The proposal was comprises the following main elements: replaced in July 2005 by a new Commission proposal [COM(2005) 319], which is currently going through the — the opening up of national freight markets to cabotage; legislative procedures in the Council and the EP.