David Sutton, Chairman of the ECMT Group on Road Transport

4^th 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

David Sutton, Chairman of the ECMT Group on Road Transport

Delegates and colleagues,

After all that has been said so far, I hope that I can confine myself to a short concluding speech. Today's conference has brought together key industry stakeholders, policy makers and decision takers from across Europe. Over the course of the morning, we have intensely discussed the main legal and regulatory issues relating to the development of international regular services by bus and coach and we have exhaustively debated the main challenges that lie ahead for this sector. As Chairman of the ECMT Group on Road Transport, I was delighted to hear contributions from speakers drawing from their experiences in bus and coach operation both from within the European Union and from other regions of Europe. I shall seek the opportunity, in the coming months, to bring to discussion with fellow Ministry for Transport representatives, many of the important issues raised today.

As we are all aware, the development of international coach and bus services is closely associated with the development of tourism and the greater demand for mobility of people. Over the years, despite heavy investment by governments in competitive transport modes such as rail, the coach and bus sector has retained a healthy market share in international passenger transport. The gradual opening up of markets in the 1990s and the continued structured liberalisation of services over the years has brought about unprecedented development in road passenger networks of services that operate under a fixed timetable, at regular intervals and which provide vital connections between cities, countries and regions across Europe. For many travellers, our road based passenger transport services still offer the highest levels of safety, flexibility and reliability - at the most competitive of rates.


Today's discussion focused on two very important themes:

1. The issue of regulatory frameworks that apply to international regular services -which today may be bilateral in nature or may fall within the scope of European Community law;

2. The issue of security and safety in travel - a topic on which we are constantly reminded that we can never afford to be complacent and on which governments and operators must share collective responsibility for ensuring passenger safety and protection at all times.


I would like to just summarize for you some of the conclusions and recommendations that have emerged from today's sessions:

Authorisation procedures - as mentioned by Mr. Möller of Bayern Express, the conditions under which authorisations are issued for regular international services need to become more transparent and fair. At present, the practices and procedures for issuing authorizations still vary considerably between different countries. There is evident need for further harmonization between EU countries and third countries with a view to reducing administrative bureaucracy.

Border crossings - it is clear that serious problems persist in relation to waiting times at our land borders between Schengen and non-Schengen countries, but also surprisingly between countries within the Schengen area. Excessive delays can result in poor adherence to timetables, reduced reliability of service and subsequently to a loss of patronage. Such delays can jeopardize the very existence of international coach and bus services and this issue should be given priority at a political level. As pointed out by Mr. Rust - one solution may be that preferential treatment could be given to regular international services over other traffic at European land border crossings.

I think we all agree that road safety and security in long distance coach and bus services are priority areas that cannot be compromised. Road traffic accidents have taken place in the past involving road transport vehicles laden with passengers, often with tragic consequences. The role of roadside enforcement is vital to ensure that all operators comply with basic safety rules. On the other hand, as mentioned by several speakers today, roadside checks for drugs, illegal immigrants and documentation should be kept to a reasonable level (as with other modes of transport) and should not be the cause unnecessary delays to service timetables.

Countries should be encouraged to harmonise at least the minimum conditions of safety such as maximum driving times, vehicle technical standards, periodic roadworthiness testing of vehicles, driver training and road signage.

The concept of creating a more level playing field between EU and third country operators was brought up in a number of interventions this morning. Fair competition between operators from different countries is often discussed within the ECMT Road Transport group forum in the context of both international road freight and international road passenger transport services - particularly with regard to social, technical and fiscal aspects. I noted the particular problem of visas for drivers which was raised by the Ukrainian and other delegates. This is an area where regulatory responsibilities may fall under the competence of official bodies outside of the Transport Ministries and, as a result, the importance of transport for economies and trade may not be given the priority it deserves. We should nevertheless endeavour to continue in our efforts to make the necessary changes required to improve the current situation.

In the second session today, both service operators and State regulators had expressed their concern about the increase in unauthorised ‘grey' or ‘pirate' international coach services. Such illegal services pose a serious threat both in terms of road safety and fair competition.

On the subject of fair competition, this should also exist between different modes of international passenger transport. Given the clear benefits to users, particularly those with low incomes, there can be no justification for slowing down the development of international bus and coach services. In the past, Governments have applied different preferential taxation systems or public service obligation subsidies aimed at regenerating uneconomic railway services and now, as we've heard today, cheap airport landing rights are being granted in several countries in order to attract low-cost airlines.
There needs to be a level playing field between modes and it would be valuable to examine the different charging and taxation provisions that apply between aviation and bus transport.
Therefore
I should like to conclude by returning to the idea that there should be an examination into the extent to which a multilateral agreement on international regular services by bus and coach could be established. Can an agreement similar to the INTERBUS agreement, which provides a multilateral framework for certain types of occasional services, be introduced to create a better framework for international regular passenger transport operation?

This is certainly an interesting proposition. I should like to assure you that, within the ECMT Group on Road Transport, we shall be carrying out a detailed and thorough investigation in order to ascertain the position of the governments in our 43 Member Countries. I welcome the statement by the European Commission for further collaboration in this area and, also the recommendation made by the Secretary General of the ECMT, to seek the views of industry on this proposal

As ECMT did in the past, with the ASOR agreement and the Resolution of Ministers agreed upon in 1995, we are ready to pave the way for such an agreement, tackling the elements that I have made reference to earlier. It is clear that a common agreement at a multilateral level could be the appropriate mechanism that is needed to bring about the greater harmonisation of rules and the removal of artificial administrative barriers so that further development and growth may be facilitated in the regular international coach and bus service sector.

Of course a framework agreement is useful but we should also simultaneously try to overcome the host of practical problems and obstacles that we heard about to day.

With close cooperation between our organizations, at governmental and professional levels, we shall endeavour to, in the words of the IRU, "Work together for a better future".

I would like to close by thanking you all for your participation in what I think, has been an extremely useful and stimulating conference - which should be a point in an ongoing process, leading to further work, discussion and action. I really would like to thank all of the speakers - I think the sharing of international experience has been enormously interesting and helpful. And finally I would like to wholeheartedly thank the organisers of today's event for their contribution towards its success.

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