|
|
Harald Moller - Bayern Express & P. Kuhn
4th European Bus & Coach Forum
"Facilitating International Regular Services by Bus and Coach in Europe"
Friday, 21 October 2005, 09:30 - 13:30
Meeting Centre "Gruzenberg", Kortrijk Xpo, Belgium
1st Interactive Panel Session
Harald Möller – Bayern Express & P. Kühn
"Regulation: a burden or an incentive to the international regular service operators in Europe?"
Over recent years competition in the European transport market has intensified significantly. Due to the boom in low-cost airlines in Europe in particular, competition on international bus services has grown strongly. As a result, bus service operators have increasingly been forced to react fast and flexibly to new market developments. In the case of our company, Bayern Express & P. Kühn Berlin GmbH (BEX), for example, the setting up of easyJet’s continental base at Berlin-Schönefeld in the spring of 2004 changed the entire competitive environment in one fell swoop. The bus services which we operate from Berlin to Copenhagen, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and London were heavily affected by the numerous low-cost flights in and out of Berlin. We have responded to the challenge, restructuring our European bus service network and introducing a new pricing structure. These changes are made under great economic pressure and some mean cuts in the range of cross-border regular services on offer. This process will continue. In our estimation, in fact, it is set to intensify in the future. Bus service operators will have to keep rising to this challenge if they are to survive in the hard fought European road transport market of the future.
The second great challenge facing all service operators active in the Eastern European market came in the form of EU enlargement into Eastern Europe on 1st May 2004 and the associated liberalisation of the legal framework for regular cross-border services in these countries. Companies already operating in this market found themselves facing new competition on their routes from other bus and coach companies from one day to the next. So today, for example, between Berlin and Warsaw, Berlin and Prague and Berlin and the Baltic states there are now several, partially parallel regular services run by different operators. However, as we have seen, since 1st May 2004 the demand for coach and bus services between the EU accession states and Germany has not grown in line with the supply of regular services. As a result, in many cases the development of regular services has fallen short of the high expectations held by the companies which expanded into this market with EU enlargement into Eastern Europe. It is our conviction that this market will remain hard fought for some years to come, characterised by an excessive supply of regular services.
Against the backdrop of increasing competition both amongst bus and coach companies and with other transport operators, the question facing our company – and all other companies operating cross-border regular services in Europe – is, therefore, whether the current EU regulations governing international regular bus services and their practical implementation in all areas will meet the requirements of the ever changing transport market in Europe.
Based on the practical experiences of our company, I would like to highlight some of the points we think are important on this issue.
Market access is governed by the provisions on authorisation procedures for regular services in Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) 684/92. The regulation stipulates that applications for regular services may be refused if certain preconditions are not fulfilled. However, practical experience of the authorisation process in Germany shows that almost every regular service is approved if the application meets the formal requirements. In most cases, the reasons for refusal specified in Article 7(4) are not taken into account in practice since it is impossible or at least very difficult for the authorities and bus companies involved to furnish the required evidence. This applies particularly to evidence of an immediate threat to regular services which are already authorised. In terms of the practical aspects of authorisation - in Germany at least - therefore, the coherently regulated market access intended by the EU Regulation either simply does not exist or is at the least very limited.
Increasingly, the fierce competition in the European transport market has meant that operators of international regular bus and coach services are sustaining losses in the operation of their services over long periods. This can quickly have a negative impact on both the economic asset value in real terms and the financial capability of the companies in question. In consequence, the subjective authorisation requirements for the granting of a Community licence which, in turn, forms the basis for the granting of an authorisation for a regular service, can simply cease to exist in a relatively short period of time. In this context it would, in the interests of the safe and reliable implementation of cross-border regular services in Europe under intensified competitive conditions, be advisable to reduce the current period for the verification of the subjective requirements for authorisation from a maximum of five to a maximum of three years.
Council Regulation (EU) No. 684/92 stipulates that a decision on applications for authorisations must be reached within four months. This also applies to applications for significant changes to the operation of a transport service such as, for example, a change in the route, the days of travel, the timetable, or the inclusion of additional stops. In practical terms, these long processing times make it difficult to react fast and flexibly to market changes. Unfortunately, the Council Regulation fails to provide a suitable mechanism for implementing such short-term changes quickly within the framework of the authorisation provisions. Just such a mechanism is offered, for example, by the German Personenbeförderungsrecht or "Law on the Carriage of Persons" which applies to both domestic German regular bus services and services provided by third countries. Under this law, where there is an urgent need for a service, the competent authority is able to grant a so-called einstweilige Erlaubnis or "temporary permit" without a lengthy authorisation process, which entitles the bus company to start operating the service for which the application is being made. It is our view that such a mechanism would be desirable for EU transport services.
To the best of our knowledge, neither the EU Regulation nor the bilateral agreements governing transport services provided by third countries has unambiguously resolved the issue of the legal framework for processing applications for the authorisation of regular services which envisage the operation of largely independent feeder and antenna services and the bundling of services. The over-generous authorisation of such regular services would make it possible to cover whole transport networks or parts of transport networks with one or just a few authorisations. Over-restrictive treatment, on the other hand, would jeopardise the freedom of commercial decision-making and the necessary flexibility of companies in structuring their transport services. For the operational grouping and bundling of regular services about central changing points, so-called "hubs", will become even more important in the future if the challenges of competition are to be met. It will have to be possible to create transport concepts of this type with a reasonable level of administrative formalities.
In an ever more hard fought market, the across the board implementation of EU regulations is becoming increasingly important. However, controls on busses and drivers must be quick and efficient. Journey interruptions caused by control measures should be reduced to a strict minimum in consideration of the passengers affected. So, for example, the regulatory authorities should not prevent a coach full of passengers from continuing its journey for several hours due to a supposed discrepancy in the documents relating to a regular service authorisation, which must be carried with the vehicle at all times. As has been increasingly the case in Germany over recent years, the focus of such controls should be on compliance with EC social regulations. The implementation of the driving and rest times for drivers on international regular services applicable under Council Regulation (EEC) 3820/85 makes a considerable contribution to road safety. Intensive and effective control measures must be used to prevent bus companies in the so-called "grey market area" faced with the increasing pressure of competition and costs in the international regular services market from endeavouring to achieve a competitive advantage at the expense of road safety by the systematic circumventing of the EC social regulations.
In conclusion, it is our view, based on our practical experience as operators of over 20 international bus and coach services, that the EU regulations generally meet our requirements, even in the changed market and competitive situation in the European transport market. In certain sectors, however, we would like to see a more concrete structure to the statutory framework, a simplification of the regulations and more efficient implementation of directives.
[ top ]
|
|
