17 Intelligent transport systems
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10083/13
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| Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. .../.. of 15.5.2013 supplementing ITS Directive 2010/40/EU with regard to the provision of information services for safe and secure parking places for trucks and commercial vehicles
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| Legal base | Articles 3(c) and 6(1) of Directive 2010/40/EU; —
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| Department | Transport
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 9 July 2013
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 86-vi (2013-14), chapter 3 (19 June 2013)
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| Discussion in Council | Not known
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
17.1 Deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), that
is, electronic information services, has enabled a significant
growth in the availability of real-time traffic information. Directive
2010/40/EU, the ITS Directive, sets out the framework for deployment
of ITS in road transport. The Directive provides for the Commission
to adopt in Delegated Acts the specifications necessary to ensure
the compatibility, interoperability and continuity for the deployment
and operational use of ITS for the Directive's priority actions.
17.2 In May the Commission published this Delegated
Regulation, supplementing the ITS Directive with regard to provision
of information services for safe and secure parking places for
trucks and commercial vehicles on the Trans-European Transport
Network (TEN-T). The Commission aims to define harmonised and
standard rules for EU-wide implementation of information services,
with the objective of optimising, through binding functional specifications
for the provision of these information services, the use of parking
places as well as to enhance road safety and security of truck
drivers. The Regulation will come into effect if neither the
Council nor the European Parliament has objected to it by 15 July
— that two month period for their consideration may be extended
for a further two months by either institution. However we understand
that one Member State had advised that it feels that Article 3
of the Delegated Regulation is insufficiently clear, and that
it would be asking the Commission to delay adoption of the Regulation
for two months while this is amended.
17.3 When we considered this proposal last month
we noted that the Government had doubts about the efficacy of
the proposal. Given those doubts we asked to know whether the
Government intended to persuade the Council to seek amendment
of the proposal or even to reject it. Meanwhile the document remained
under scrutiny.[50]
The Minister's letter
17.4 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Transport (Stephen Hammond), in response to our
query, first notes that:
- the Regulation is intended
to increase the number of drivers using secure lorry parks by
giving them more information, to uniform standards, about the
quality and availability of parking; and
- the Government is not opposed to this in principle,
but it is not convinced that the Regulation will have this effect
to any great extent.
17.5 The Minister elaborates that:
- drivers already have access
to information about lorry parks from a variety of sources, such
as trade publications, haulage associations and word of mouth;
- yet a survey conducted for the Department for
Transport in 2010-11 found that 41% of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)
parked within five kilometres of the Strategic Road Network in
England were parked in lay-bys or industrial estates — on
average, lorry parks were occupied to only 61% of capacity;
- the Government's discussions with the industry
suggest strongly that many HGV drivers choose to park in lay-bys
or industrial estates because their employer will not pay for
overnight parking; and
- the Government does not see that specifications
for the use of ITS in information about lorry parking will make
much difference in these circumstances.
17.6 The Minister adds that:
- specifications are likely to
be of more use where drivers do wish to use a lorry park; and
- adoption of common standards should not be a
problem for parks that choose to invest in such systems, given
that it will be a commercial decision.
17.7 The Minister continues that:
- the Regulation implements a
specific provision of the ITS Directive;
- the Directive provides that the Regulation will
only apply where Member States 'deploy' ITS in the provision of
information about lorry parking;
- the specifications will not, therefore, have
to be adopted by a lorry park unless it has chosen to deploy ITS,
or unless the Government requires that it does so;
- the Government supported the Directive in the
knowledge that it contained this limitation;
- the specifications in the Regulation have been
subject to considerable discussion, including a public consultation
and four meetings of an experts' group, comprising representatives
from Member States including the UK;
- a number of amendments, which the Government
supported, were agreed to make the Regulation less onerous —
for example, the Commission accepted that the requirement for
live information on availability of parking spaces would apply
only at 'priority zones' designated by Member States, where parking
was a problem;
- given that the Regulation implements the Directive
and was amended to its satisfaction, the Government does not,
therefore, plan to oppose it or propose further amendments; but
- the Commission has acknowledged, the dates for
application to new and existing ITS have been transposed wrongly
and this will have to be corrected before the Government could
accept the Regulation.
Conclusion
17.8 We are grateful for the Minister's explanation
of the Government's thinking on the Delegated Regulation and of
the reasons it will not oppose the measure. Having no more questions
to ask we clear the document.
50 See headnote. Back
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