FantasticSearch

1. In the event of serious disturbance of the national transport market in a given geographical area due to, or aggravated by, cabotage, any Member State may refer the matter to the Commission with a view to the adoption of safeguard measures and shall provide the Commission with the necessary information and notify it of the measures it intends to take as regards resident hauliers.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1: ‘serious disturbance of the national transport market in a given geographical area’ means the existence on the market of problems specific to it, such that there is a serious and potentially enduring excess of supply over demand, implying a threat to the financial stability and survival of a significant number of hauliers, ‘geographical area’ means an area covering all or part of the territory of a Member State or extending to all or part of the territory of other Member States.

3. The Commission shall examine the situation on the basis in particular of the relevant data and, after consulting the committee established pursuant to Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council () shall decide within one month of receipt of the Member State’s request whether safeguard measures are necessary and shall adopt them if they are necessary. Such measures may involve the temporary exclusion of the area concerned from the scope of this Regulation. Measures adopted in accordance with this Article shall remain in force for a period not exceeding 6 months, renewable once within the same limits of validity. The Commission shall without delay notify the Member States and the Council of any decision taken pursuant to this paragraph.

4. If the Commission decides to adopt safeguard measures concerning one or more Member States, the competent authorities of the Member States involved shall be required to take measures of equivalent scope in respect of resident hauliers and shall inform the Commission thereof. Those measures shall be applied at the latest as from the same date as the safeguard measures adopted by the Commission.

5. Any Member State may refer to the Council a decision taken by the Commission pursuant to paragraph 3 within 30 days of its notification. The Council, acting by a qualified majority may, within 30 days of that referral, or, if there are referrals by several Member States, of the first referral, take a different decision. The limits of validity laid down in the third subparagraph of paragraph 3 shall apply to the Council’s decision. The competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall be required to take measures of equivalent scope in respect of resident hauliers, and shall inform the Commission thereof. If the Council takes no decision within the period referred to in the first subparagraph, the Commission decision shall become final.

6. Where the Commission considers that the measures referred to in paragraph 3 need to be prolonged, it shall submit a proposal to the Council, which shall take a decision by qualified majority.

7. In addition to paragraphs 1 to 6 of this Article and by way of derogation from Article 4 of Directive 92/106/EEC, Member States may, where necessary to avoid misuse of the latter provision through the provision of unlimited and continuous services consisting in initial or final road legs within a host Member State that form part of combined transport operations between Member States, provide that Article 8 of this Regulation apply to hauliers when they carry out such initial and/or final road haulage legs within that Member State. With regard to such road haulage legs, Member States may provide for a longer period than the seven-day period provided for in Article 8(2) of this Regulation and may provide for a shorter period than the four-day period provided for in Article 8(2a) of this Regulation. The application of Article 8(4) of this Regulation to such transport operations shall be without prejudice to requirements following from Directive 92/106/EEC. Member States making use of the derogation provided for in this paragraph shall notify the Commission thereof before applying their relevant national measures. They shall review those measures at least every five years and shall notify the results of that review to the Commission. They shall make the rules, including the length of the respective periods, publicly available in a transparent manner.