Welcome speech by Michel Gout

Michel Gout, President, Institute for International Transport Law (IDIT)

The representative of Mr Jacques Barrot, Vice-president of the European Commission, and Commissioner in charge of transport; The representative of the French Transport Ministry; The General Secretary of the IRU; Ladies, Gentlemen,

It is my duty, as Chairman of the Institute of International Transport Law, to welcome you in Deauville and to open this Symposium.

But what is this event for which we are all gathered here?

An anniversary, do you say??

50 years??

What did happen in Geneva on Saturday 19th of May 1956??

The weather was overcast and cloudy, and the long Whitsun week-end did not look up to much as far as weather was concerned…

Miss Joséphine Baker was leaving Geneva at 01.30 pm on a Swissair flight to Paris…

The Supreme Court of the Cape Province were voting the law removing mixed blood electors from electoral lists…

In Moscow, Messrs Krouchtchev and Guy Mollet were censuring American imperialism and condemning those they considered responsible for the cold war…

France was reeling with new revelations and judicial developments in a story about leaks – indeed, very few things have changed in my beautiful country -…

Algeria was sinking ever deeper into horror and blood, while Mr Papon, the new Prefect of Constantine, was taking up his post…

Well, just an ordinary day of violence and events in Europe and the World. And, despite all this, the work begun in 1948 by UNIDROIT, the ICC and IRU, within the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, was going to give birth to the Convention on the contract of international carriage of goods by road.

It had taken a few years, a little inspiration and a lot of blood, sweat and tears for, on this Saturday 19th of May 1956… the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia to submit the original CMR for ratification by any country which would want to sign it.

Enormous success for a Convention which became effective on the 2nd of July 1961 and is now enforced in 46 countries, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean from the farthest confines of Northern Europe to the deserts of Central Africa. Enormous success for a Convention which, since its origin, has only undergone minor amendments! Enormous success for a Convention which has become the domestic law of several European countries!

Enormous success for a Convention which, through its extensive case law, has been able to adapt to the changes of international carriage, fit into the logistics chain and move with the globalisation of trade.

Ladies, Gentlemen, You have travelled from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Byelorussia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Ukraine, to celebrate this anniversary and discuss the future and perspectives of international carriage by road. Welcome to all of you gathered here, and be assured that all the members of the IDIT bureau: Isabelle, Guillaume, Gérard, Didier, Sophie and Alexandre, just like the IDIT staff: Ludovic, Frédéric, Valérie and Maryline, are at your disposal to help you make your 2-day stay here convivial and productive.

Welcome to you, and don’t miss the working sessions organised with a smile and a firm hand by Mrs Isabelle Bon-Garcin.

Welcome to you, and don’t forget to visit our stands; our exhibitors have many surprises for you, pleasant ones of course.

Enjoy the beautiful Normandy coast in general and Deauville in particular, but don’t overdo it with roulette or slot machines.

And my last wish would be this: let us all meet again in Deauville on the 19th of May 2056 for the 100th anniversary of the CMR.

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