Transport of dangerous goods by road: uniform procedures for checks

This is the fourth report on the application of Council Directive 95/50/EC in the Member States and it covers years 2006-2007. The Directive aims at ensuring that a representative proportion of consignments of dangerous goods transported by road is randomly checked, while at the same time covering an extensive portion of the road network. As a preventive measure, or after having recorded infringements at the roadside which jeopardise safety, checks may be also carried out at the premises of undertakings. There is, however, no reporting requirement on these checks in Directive 95/50/EC.

Reports were received from all Member States for both years 2006 and 2007; however many reports were incomplete. These shortcomings have led to gaps in this report.

Frequency of checks: in 2006, the average in the EU was 2.95 checks per million tonne-kilometres; in 2007, it was 3.50. This implies an increase of 18.6%. Bulgaria and Hungary have an exceptionally high frequency of checks. Without the numbers of Bulgaria and Hungary, the EU average would be 2.33 in 2006 and 2.90 in 2007 and the annual increase would be 24.5%.

Proportion of non-conforming transport units: the percentage of non-conforming transport units differs considerably between Member States, reaching almost 80% in Portugal while being less than 5% in a number of Member States. Data is missing from certain Member States.

Frequency of immobilisation of transport units: the frequency of immobilisation differs considerably between Member States. In Bulgaria each vehicle with an infringement was immobilised in 2006 while several Member States reported that no vehicles were immobilised. The following Member States reported that there were no immobilisations for 2006: Estonia, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania and Malta; for 2007: Cyprus, Estonia, Spain, Latvia, Malta and Sweden.

The Commission notes that all Member States have carried out road side checks according to Directive 95/50/EC. There has been an improvement in the volume and quality of the data which has been submitted to the Commission. Most Member States are using the correct reporting formats. There continues to be a proportion of vehicles found during these checks that infringe the legislation. The number of infringements per check appears to be stable.

The number of checks in the EU increased in the region of 20% from 2006 to 2007, reaching some 285 000 annual checks in 2007. Approximately in one check out of eight an infringement was detected. Some 40% of these infringements were of the most serious type. Consequently, almost 10 000 vehicles were immobilised following their check. This clearly demonstrates that practical enforcement of rules on the transport of dangerous goods at the roadside is useful and helps to improve safety.

The Commission will consider making recommendations to further harmonise the interpretation and content of the information submitted by the Member States in their annual reports.