Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedDRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

AddedEuropean Parliament legislative resolution of 14 February 2019 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services (COM(2017)0647 – C8-0396/2017 – 2017/0288(COD))

Removedon the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services

Removed(COM(2017)0647 – C80396/2017 – 2017/0288(COD))

▸7 unchanged paragraphs

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2017)0647),

– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 91(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C80396/2017),

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to the reasoned opinion submitted, within the framework of Protocol No 2 on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, by the Irish Houses of the Oireachtas, asserting that the draft legislative act does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity,

– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 19 April 2018,

Changed– afterhaving consultingregard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

▸5 unchanged paragraphs

– having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A8-0032/2019),

1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Change 1

RemovedRecital 1: (1) The application of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council17 has revealed that some operators in national markets are facing unjustified obstacles to the development of inter-urban coach services of benefit to passengers. Moreover, road passenger transport services have not kept pace with the evolving needs of citizens in terms of availability and quality and sustainable transport modes continue to have a low modal share. As a consequence, certain groups of citizens are placed at a disadvantage in terms of availability of passenger transport services, and there are more road accidents, emissions, congestion and increased infrastructure costs due to greater use of cars.

AddedP8_TC1-COD(2017)0288

RemovedRecital 2: (2) To ensure a coherent framework for the inter-urban carriage of passengers by regular coach and bus services throughout the Union, Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 should apply to all inter-urban carriage by regular services. The scope of that Regulation should therefore be extended, but should not be applied to urban or suburban centres or conurbations and should be without prejudice to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007.

AddedPosition of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 14 February 2019 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) .../... of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services

RemovedRecital 3: (3) Each Member State should designate an independent and impartial regulatory body, with the task of issuing binding opinions, to ensure the proper functioning of the road passenger transport market. That body may also be responsible for other regulated sectors such as rail, energy or telecommunications.

Added(Text with EEA relevance)

RemovedRecital 4: (4) Commercial regular service operations should not compromise the economic equilibrium of existing or granted public service contracts in accordance with Regulation 1370/2007. For this reason, the regulatory body should be able to carry out an objective economic analysis and should have the authority, where appropriate, to propose measures necessary to ensure that this is the case. Commercial regular service operations should not compete with transport providers who have been granted exclusive rights to provide certain public passenger transport services in return for the discharge of public service obligations within the framework of a public service contract.

AddedTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

RemovedRecital 5: (5) The operation of regular services in the form of cabotage operations should beconditional on the possession of a Community licence and the use of a smart tachograph in accordance with Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In order to facilitate effective controls of those services by enforcement authorities, the rules regarding the issuing of Community licences should be clarified and the IMI module developed for the sending of posting declarations and electronic applications, enabling the inspectors carrying out the roadside checks to have direct real-time access to data and information contained in the European Register of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU) and in the Internal Market Information System (IMI) and so as to ensure that social contributions are actually paid for posted bus drivers.

AddedHaving regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91(1) thereof,

RemovedRecital 6: (6) In order to ensure fair competition in the market, operators of regular services should be provided with access rights to terminals in the Union on fair, equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent terms. The operation of a terminal should be approved by a national authority, which should verify which requirements are necessary and which must be fulfilled. Appeals against decisions rejecting or limiting access should be lodged with the regulatory body. Member States might exclude terminals that are owned and used solely by the terminal operator for its own road passenger transport services.

AddedHaving regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

RemovedRecital 8: (8) Authorisation for both national and international regular services should be subject to an authorisation procedure. Authorisation should be granted, unless there are specific grounds for refusal attributable to the applicant, or the service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract. A distance threshold, determined by the Member States, which should in any event not exceed 100 kilometres journey distance, should be introduced to ensure that commercial regular service operations do not compromise the economic equilibrium of existing public service contracts.

AddedAfter transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

RemovedRecital 9: (9) Non-resident carriers should be able to operate national regular services under the same conditions as resident carriers, as long as they have complied with road transport or other relevant provisions of national, Union and international law.

AddedHaving regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,

RemovedRecital 10: (10) Administrative formalities should be reduced where possible without abandoning the controls and penalties that guarantee the correct application and effective enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009.

AddedHaving regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

RemovedRecital 11: deleted

AddedActing in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

RemovedRecital 14: (14) In order to take into account market developments and technical progress the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to amend Annexes I and II to Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009, and to supplement that Regulation with rules concerning the format of certificates for own-account transport operations, the format of applications for authorisations and authorisations themselves, the procedure and criteria to be followed to determine if a proposed service would compromise the equilibrium of a public service contract, and the reporting obligations of Member States. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in line with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making18 . In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council should receive all documents at the same time as the Member States’ experts, and the European Parliament and the Council experts should systematically have access to the Commission’s expert group meetings dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

AddedWhereas:

RemovedRegulation (EC) No 1073/2009

Added(1) The application of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council has revealed that some operators in national markets are facing unjustified obstacles to the development of inter-urban coach services of benefit to passengers. Moreover, road passenger transport services have not kept pace with the evolving needs of citizens in terms of availability and quality and sustainable transport modes continue to have a low modal share. As a consequence, certain groups of citizens are placed at a disadvantage in terms of availability of passenger transport services, and there are more road accidents, emissions, and congestion and increased infrastructure costs due to greater use of cars. [Am. 1]

Change 2

ChangedArticle(2) 1To –ensure paragrapha 1coherent –framework pointfor 1,the Articleinter-urban 1carriage –of paragraphpassengers 4:by 4.regular Thiscoach and bus services throughout the Union, Regulation shall(EC) No 1073/2009 should apply to nationalall interurbaninter-urban roadcarriage passengerby servicesregular forservices. hireThe orscope rewardof operatedthat byRegulation ashould non-residenttherefore carrierbe asextended, providedbut forshould innot Chapterbe V,applied to urban or suburban centres or conurbations and shallshould be without prejudice to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007.1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council. [Am. 2]

Change 3

RemovedRegulation (EC) No 1073/2009

Added(3) Each Member State should designate an independent and impartial regulatory body, should be designated in each Member State with the task of issuing binding opinions, to ensure the proper functioning of the road passenger transport market. That body may also be responsible for other regulated sectors such as rail, energy or telecommunications. [Am. 3]

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 9: 9. ‘terminal’ means an authorised facility which provides a parking place that is used by coaches and buses for the alighting or boarding of passengers;

Added(4) Commercial regular service operations should not compromise the economic equilibrium of existing or granted public service contracts in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007. For this reason, the regulatory body should be able to carry out an objective economic analysis and should have the authority, where appropriate, to propose measures necessary to ensure that this is the case. Commercial regular service operations should not compete with transport providers who have been granted exclusive rights to provide certain public passenger transport services in return for the discharge of public service obligations within the framework of a public service contract. [Am. 4]

RemovedRegulation (EC) No 1073/2009

Added(5) The operation of regular services in the form of cabotage operations should be conditional on the possession of a Community licence and the use of a smart tachograph in accordance with Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council. In order to facilitate effective controls of those services by enforcement authorities, the rules regarding the issuing of Community licences should be clarified and the Internal Market Information System (IMI) module developed for the sending of posting declarations and electronic applications, enabling the inspectors carrying out the roadside checks to have direct real-time access to data and information contained in the European Register of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU) and in the IMI and so as to ensure that social contributions are actually paid for posted bus drivers. [Am. 5]

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10: 10. ‘terminal operator’ means any entity in a Member State responsible for the management of a terminal, which meets professional competence and financial capacity requirements.

Added(6) In order to ensure fair competition in the market, operators of regular services should be provided with access rights to terminals in the Union on fair, equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent terms. The operation of a terminal should be approved by a national authority, which should verify which requirements are necessary and which must be fulfilled. Appeals against decisions rejecting or limiting access should be lodged with the regulatory body. Member States might exclude terminals that are owned and used solely by the terminal operator for its own road passenger transport services. [Am. 6]

RemovedRegulation (EC) No 1073/2009

Added(7) While maintaining authorisation for regular services, certain rules regarding the authorisation procedure should be adapted.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11: 11. ‘viable alternative’ means another terminal which is economically acceptable to the carrier and provides comparable infrastructure and connectivity to the terminal originally applied for, allows passengers access to other forms of public transport, and allows the carrier to operate the passenger service concerned in a similar manner to the terminal originally applied for.

Added(8) Authorisation for both national and international regular services should be subject to an authorisation procedure. Authorisation should be granted, unless there are specific grounds for refusal attributable to the applicant, or the service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract. A distance threshold, determined by the Member States, which should in any event not exceed 100 kilometres journey distance, should be introduced to ensure that commercial regular service operations do not compromise the economic equilibrium of existing public service contracts. In the case of routes already served by more than one public service contract, it should be possible to increase that threshold. [Am. 7]

RemovedRegulation (EC) No 1073/2009

Added(9) Non-resident carriers should be able to operate national regular services under the same conditions as resident carriers, as long as they have complied with road transport or other relevant provisions of national, Union and international law. [Am. 8]

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11 a (new): 11a. ‘public service contract’ means one or more legally binding acts confirming the agreement between a competent authority and a public service operator to entrust to that public service operator the management and operation of public passenger transport services subject to public service obligations; depending on the law of the Member State, the contract may also consist of a decision adopted by the competent authority taking the form of an individual legislative or regulatory act, or containing conditions under which the competent authority itself provides the services or entrusts the provision of such services to an internal operator;

Added(10) Administrative formalities should be reduced as much as where possible without abandoning the controls and penalties that guarantee the correct application and effective enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 1073/2009. The journey form constitutes an unnecessary administrative burden and should therefore be abolished. [Am. 9]

RemovedThe public service contract should be defined pursuant to Regulation (EC) 1370/2007.

Added(11) Local excursions are an authorised cabotage operation and are covered by the general rules on cabotage. The article on local excursions should therefore be deleted. [Am. 10]