51995AC0966

Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on common rules applicable to the transport of goods or passengers by inland waterway between Member States with a view to establishing freedom to provide such transport services ()

(95/C 301/05)

On 6 June 1995 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 10 July 1995. The Rapporteur was Mr Whitworth.

At its 328th Plenary Session (meeting of 13 September 1995), the Economic and Social Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion.

1. The proposed Regulation

1.1. The proposed Regulation has a specific and limited purpose - that is to affirm that a Community-based operator should be allowed to transport goods or passengers by inland waterway between Member States without discrimination on grounds of nationality or place of establishment.

1.2. This accords with a Court of Justice decision dating from 1985, pursuant to Article 75(1)(a) of the Treaty, obliging the Council to adopt rules governing such access to the inland waterway market.

1.3. Heretofore the Commission did not deem it necessary to propose such a Regulation as such freedom to provide services existed de facto even before the Treaty. However, bilateral agreements between Austria and two other Member States which pre-date that country's accession contain provisions which are incompatible with the freedom to provide services in this area. It will be necessary for the Member States concerned to modify these agreements in order to comply with the Regulation.

2. General comments

2.1. The Section has no option other than to approve the proposed Regulation, as not only is it necessary to comply with the Court of Justice decision but it is also consistent with the principle of freedom to provide services which the Committee has supported in numerous Opinions dealing with other transport modes.

2.2. The impact of the Regulation on the 'Tour de Rôle' system which applies in the Netherlands, France and Belgium can be considered by the Committee in its forthcoming Opinion on the Commission Communication on a common policy on the organization of the inland waterway transport market and supporting measures (COM(95) 199 final).

Done at Brussels, 13 September 1995.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Carlos FERRER

() OJ No C 164, 30. 6. 1995, p. 9.