RHA broadly welcomes EU haulage revisions
The Road Haulage Association welcomes the imminent conclusion of the EU Access to the Market and Access to the Profession deliberations, which have gone on over several years.
“The new Regulations set the framework for the development of the road haulage profession in the EU,” says RHA Director of Policy Jack Semple. “They result from years of discussion, in which the RHA has played its part in London, Brussels and Strasbourg.
“Taken as a whole, I believe that the end result is as good as we could reasonably have hoped to have achieved. That is particularly true on the sensitive issue of cabotage. On this and other issues, we note the work done by officials and ministers at the Department for Transport, who have taken note of our – and others’ – views throughout the process,” he said.
Access to the Market, including cabotage
In the Access to the Market Regulation, the improved definition of the term “cabotage” is to be welcomed. Operators will be able to undertake three domestic loads in a period of seven days provided that the work is not permanent or continuous. This important qualification is contained in the Recital to the Regulation and sets cabotage in the context of the realities of EU road haulage. It affords a degree of sustainability to competitive domestic haulage sectors and means that a foreign haulier cannot come in week after week, doing the same domestic haulage work.
Also welcome is the commitment to set the onus of proof in regard to cabotage on the operator and to specify the evidence that a driver will be required to carry in the cab. This will make enforcement much easier and more cost-effective than it is now. In the UK, VOSA and the police have the power (from April 1 2009) to impose a £200 fixed penalty per offence for unlawful cabotage. This was a late addition to the fixed penalty and deposit scheme that resulted from engagement between the DfT and the RHA.
We think it right that trucks doing cabotage must have come into the country with a load and this requirement is included in the new Regulation.
Further welcome decisions include a commitment from member states to exchange information about operators and their penalty record from 2013. This will be done electronically and will significantly aid enforcement.
Also, members states will have the power to withdraw cabotage rights from foreign operators for non-compliance with haulage laws.
Access to the Profession – a new manager CPC
The new Access to the Profession Regulation is expected to come into force no sooner than mid-2011 and probably from January 2012. It sets a new regime for transport managers. Their roles and responsibilities are defined by contract, which will be an important element in any issue of good repute.
There will in future be a single CPC, covering both national and international operations. The RHA is disappointed that this unnecessary additional burden has been imposed on purely domestic hauliers, many of which do not go outside their region, never mind member state. However, the rights in respect of existing national CPC holders and of those with “grandfather rights” are substantially protected, however – these issues were important to the RHA during the consultation process.
One disappointment in the new Access to the Profession Regulation is the continued exclusion of the own-account sector, which therefore will continue to be able to operate trucks without engaging the services of anyone with a CPC. The RHA was a lone voice in the EU on this issue during consultations. We gather that some haulier associations are moving in our direction and that some member states have now decided, despite the new Regulation, to make the Access the Profession Regulation applicable to all operators in their country.
Road Haulage Association – more than you think
For more details, contact RHA Head of Communications, Kate Gibbs on . . .
Tel: +44 (0) 1932 838917
Mob: + 44 (0) 7979 531451
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