Speech by the Slovenian Minister of Transport, Radovan Žerjav, at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 20 May 2008

Honourable Members of the European Parliament,
Rapporteurs, Ms Ticau and Mr Grosch,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In July 2007, the European Commission published the following legislative proposals: for a Regulation establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road haulage operator, for a Regulation on common rules for access to the international road haulage market and for a Regulation on common rules for access to the international market for coach and bus services. The Portuguese Presidency started the discussions on the Regulation on common rules for access to the international road haulage market; the Slovenian Presidency has continued the work and also opened the two remaining dossiers.  In tandem with our work in the working party we also started informal discussions with two rapporteurs in the European Parliament.

At the April meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council, a political debate was held on the basis of a package of the most important issues. The conclusions were as follows:

• In respect of the Regulation on common rules for access to the international road haulage market, the key issue to be resolved is cabotage. In principle, most Member States support the consensus solution limiting cabotage to three operations within a seven-day period following unloading in the host Member State. However, several delegations – supported also by the Commission – requested that transit cabotage should also be permitted in addition, in order to avoid vehicles making unladen journeys. The efforts of the Presidency are currently focused on finding a consensus solution within the Council;
• Regarding the Regulation establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator, a compromise should be found on a national electronic register and the role of transport manager;
• In respect of the Regulation on access to the international market for coach and bus services, discussions at working party level should be continued. We agreed that the solutions from the previous two Regulations should apply also to this Regulation mutatis mutandis.

At the meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on 13 June 2008, the Slovenian Presidency will strive to reach a general approach and political agreement on the proposals for all three Regulations. I would like to point out that we will cooperate, in this respect, with the European Parliament to the maximum possible and try to bring our positions on these issues as close as possible.

The Slovenian Presidency is also making every effort to help consolidate and round off the single market. I believe that the rapidly growing road transportation sector represents one of the foundations of the single market and free movement of goods and persons and that Community legislation needs to be modernised so as to improve efficiency, provide better control and fair competition. The Slovenian Presidency fully supports the objectives set forth in the proposals for all three Regulations.

I would also like to stress that the Slovenian Presidency is well aware of the barriers existing on the EU transport market and is therefore committed not only to strengthening the rules and control mechanisms for cabotage, but also to implementing uniform provisions on admission to the occupation of road transport operator. By means of electronic registers in particular we can increase the efficiency and transparency of our business operations and significantly reduce administrative burdens.

I would like to conclude by expressing my gratitude to the Members of the European Parliament, particularly to the two rapporteurs, Ms Ticau and Mr Grosch, for an exceptional exchange of opinions.   I would like to point out once again that the Slovenian Presidency will do everything in its power to find a balance between different interests and at the same time ensure that the solutions adopted enable the European road industry to improve its efficiency and be more competitive. At this point, I would like simply to add that it is my hope and wish that our constructive dialogue will continue and agreement with the European Parliament will be reached in the shortest possible time.