EC/Romania agreement: road and combined transport, distribution of authorisations

PURPOSE: to amend Council Regulation 685/2001/EC relating to the carriage of goods by road through Romania and to allocate transit authorisations awarded to the EU by Romania. CONTENT: the European Union has already signed two Agreements with Bulgaria and Hungary establishing certain conditions for the carriage of goods by road and the promotion of combined transport. An identical Agreement with Romania has been submitted and is currently under consideration. A key element of these Agreements is the distribution of transit authorisations granted to the EU by the signatory countries. Authorisations have already been concluded with Hungary and Bulgaria. To make the corridor complete Romania, has now submitted 14 000 authorisations, for distribution amongst the EU Member States. This proposal specifies how the authorisations from Romania have been distributed amongst the EU Member States. The European Commission has chosen to distribute them in accordance with the number of transit journeys Member States undertake through the Romanian/Bulgarian/Hungarian corridor. According to statistical evidence submitted, Greece constitutes the country qualifying for the lion's share of authorisations - 99% of vehicles using these routes are Greek registered. Thus, of the 14 000 authorisations awarded, the Commission has given 12 457 to Greece. All other Member States receive between 100 and 150.�