S.I. No. 369/1985 - European Communities (International Carriage of Passengers) Regulations, 1985.


S.I. No. 369 of 1985.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (INTERNATIONAL CARRIAGE OF PASSENGERS) REGULATIONS, 1985.

I, JIM MITCHELL, Minister for Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Regulation 117/66/EEC1, Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC2, Council Regulation 516/72/EEC3, Council Regulation 517/72/EEC4, Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC5, Council Regulation 2442/72/EEC6, Council Regulation 56/83/EEC7 and Council Decision 82/505/EEC8, hereby make the following Regulations:

1O.J. No. L147/66, 9.8.66.

2O.J. No. L173/8, 22.7.68.

3O.J. No. L67/13, 20.3.72.

4O.J. No. L67/19, 20.3.72.

5O.J. No. L134/1, 12.6.72.

6O.J. No. L265/7, 24.11.72

7O.J. No. L10/1, 13.1.83.

8O.J. No. L230/38, 5.8.82.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (International Carriage of Passengers) Regulations, 1985.

(2) The Principal Regulations and these Regulations may be cited together as the European Communities (International Carriage of Passengers) Regulations, 1974 and 1985.

(3) The Principal Regulations and these Regulations shall be construed together as one.

2. In these Regulations:—

"the ASOR" means the Agreement on the International Carriage of Passengers by Road by means of Occasional Coach and Bus Services approved of on behalf of the European Economic Community by Council Decision 82/505/EEC;

"control document" means a control document supplied in accordance with Article 9 of Council Regulation 117/66/EEC or Article 6 of the ASOR;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Communications;

"model document" means the model control document prescribed by Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC (as inserted by Commission Regulation 2485/82/EEC9 or Article 11 of the ASOR);

9 OJ No. L265/5, 15.9.82.

"the Principal Regulations" means the European Communities (International Carriage of Passengers) Regulations, 1974 ( S.I. No. 133 of 1974 ).

3. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution of the following Regulation for Regulation 2 thereof:

"2. Section 7 of the Road Transport Act, 1932 (No. 2 of 1932), which prohibits unlicensed passenger road services, and section 6 of the Road Transport Act, 1935 (No. 23 of 1935), which imposes restrictions on the importation of certain mechanically propelled vehicles used for the carriage of passengers, shall not apply to—

( a ) the holder of a certificate issued in accordance with Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC, in respect of the international carriage of workers in the vehicle specified in such certificate,

( b ) the holder of a passenger waybill, which forms part of a control document issued pursuant to Section III of the ASOR or Article 2 of Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC, as amended by Commission Regulation 2485/82/EEC, in respect of the occasional service being operated by the vehicle specified in such passenger waybill,

( c ) the holder of an authorisation issued in accordance with Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC in respect of the regular or special regular service being operated by a vehicle specified in such regular or special regular service authorisation, or

( d ) the holder of an authorisation issued in accordance with Article 4 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC in respect of the shuttle service being operated by a vehicle specified in such shuttle service authorisation.".

4. For the purposes of Article 13 of the ASOR—

(i) the period of validity of a control document consisting of detachable passenger waybills in duplicate in books of 25 shall be the period of 3 years;

(ii) the top copy of each passenger waybill shall be returned to the Minister in the period of 30 days beginning on the date of the completion of the journey to which it relates; and

(iii) the other copy of each passenger waybill shall not be detached from the control document until the expiry of the period of validity of the document.

5. Notwithstanding Regulation 2(b) and Regulation 4 of the Principal Regulations, passenger waybills, which form part of a control document conforming to that prescribed in Article 2 of Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC, shall not be valid for use after the 30th day of November, 1985, and all such waybills, issued by the Minister, whether they are used or unused, shall be returned to him on or before that day.

6. Whenever an application is made to the Minister for the issue of a control document or model document, the Minister shall not issue a control document or a model document unless the applicant is the holder of an international road passenger certificate issued pursuant to the European Communities (Road Passenger Transport) Regulations, 1977 and 1981, and which is for the time being in force, unless such applicant is exempted from the requirement to hold such certificate.

7. Whenever the Minister is satisfied that a person applying for a control document or a model document has failed at any time before such application to satisfy the provisions of Council Regulation 117/66/EEC, or of the ASOR or if the Minister has grounds for believing that such a person will not operate an occasional service in a proper manner, or that the proper treatment of the passengers will not be ensured, or that such a person has not returned a passenger waybill in accordance with Regulation 4(ii) or Regulation 5 of these Regulations, the Minister may refuse to issue a control document or a model document to such applicant.

8. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution of the following Regulation for Regulation 5 thereof:

"5. (1) Where any person contravenes a provision of Council Regulation 117/66/EEC, Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC, Council Regulation 516/72/EEC, Council Regulation 517/72/EEC or Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC, or contravenes any of the provisions of the ASOR, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) ( a ) Where the offence is a first offence the person charged shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

( b ) Where the offence is not a first offence the person charged shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

( c ) Where the offence is the second or subsequent offence committed by the person charged in a period of twelve months, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400.

( d ) Where the offence is a continuing offence the person convicted shall be liable to a further fine, in addition to any fine imposed under subparagraphs (a) to (c) of this Article, not exceeding £20 for each day on which the offence is continued provided that the total fine or fines imposed shall not exceed £1, 000.

(3) Proceedings in relation to an offence under these Regulations may be brought and prosecuted by the minister for Communications.".

9. (1) There shall be charged by and paid to the Minister in respect of a matter specified in column (2) of the Schedule to these Regulations at any reference number a fee of the amount specified in column (3) of the Schedule at that reference number.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to all fees payable to the Minister under these Regulations—

( a ) The fees shall be collected in such a manner as the Minister for Finance may from time to time direct, and shall be paid into the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance.

( b ) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of such fees or charges.

SCHEDULE

Ref. No.

Services

Fees

(1)

(2)

(3)

£

Occasional Services:

1.

On the grant of a control document.

18.50

2.

On the grant of a model document.

9.00

3.

On application to each foreign competent authority for a transport authorisation issued pursuant to Article 5(3) of Council Regulation 117/66/EEC or Article 5(3) of the ASOR.

10.50

4.

(i) On grant to an Irish bus operator of a transport authorisation issued pursuant to Article 5(3) of Council Regulation 117/66/EEC or Article 5(3) of the ASOR per year of validity or part thereof.

5.00

(ii) For each certified copy of such authorisation.

1.00

5.

(i) On grant to a foreign bus operator of a transport authorisation issued pursuant to Article 5(3) of Council Regulation 117/66/EEC or Article 5(3) of the ASOR per year of validity of part thereof.

5.00

(ii) For each certified copy of such authorisation.

1.00

Shuttle Services (EEC):

6.

(i) On application for an authorisation issued pursuant to Article 4 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC.

12.50

(ii) For each country proposed to be crossed in transit in such application.

2.50

7.

(i) On grant of an authorisation issued pursuant to Article 4 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC.

6.00

(ii) For each certified copy of such authorisation.

1.50

8.

Regular Services (EEC):

(i) On application for an authorisation issued pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC.

20.50

(ii) For each country proposed to be crossed in transit in such application.

2.50

9.

(i) On the grant of an authorisation issued pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC.

6.00

(ii) For each year of validity or part thereof of an authorisation issued pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC.

10.00

(iii) For each certified copy of such authorisation.

1.50

10.

On application for and grant of a variation in the conditions of an authorisation issued pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1172/72/EEC.

9.50

Worker's Carriage Certificate:

11.

On application for a certificate issued pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC.

2.00

12.

On grant of a certificate issued pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation 1016/68/EEC.

4.50

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 21st day of November, 1985.

JIM MITCHELL,

Minister for Communications.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of the Regulations is to give effect to the ASOR Agreement which extends the EEC arrangements for the International Carriage of Passengers by Road by means of Occasional Coach and Bus Services to certain third countries viz, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, Spain and Portugal. The Regulations also make provision for levying charges for international road passenger transport authorisation and for increasing the amount and scope of penalties for contraventions.