Regulation (EU) 2018/974 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways (codification)
Regulation (EU) 2018/974 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 4 July 2018on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways(codification)THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 338(1) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedurePosition of the European Parliament of 29 May 2018 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Decision of the Council of 18 June 2018.,Whereas:(1)Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EC) No 1365/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways and repealing Council Directive 80/1119/EEC (OJ L 264, 25.9.2006, p. 1). has been substantially amended several timesSee Annex VII.. In the interests of clarity and rationality, that Regulation should be codified.(2)Inland waterways are an important part of the Union's transport networks and the promotion of inland waterways transport is one of the objectives of the common transport policy, both for reasons of economic efficiency and in order to reduce energy consumption and the environmental impact of transport.(3)The Commission needs statistics concerning the transport of goods by inland waterways in order to monitor and develop the common transport policy, as well as the transport elements of policies on the regions and on trans-European networks.(4)European statistics on all modes of transport should be collected according to common concepts and standards, with the aim of achieving the fullest practicable comparability between transport modes.(5)Inland waterways transport does not occur in all Member States and, therefore, the effect of this Regulation is limited to those Member States where this mode of transport exists.(6)Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164). provides a reference framework for the provisions laid down by this Regulation.(7)In order to take into account economic and technical trends and changes in definitions adopted at international level, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending this Regulation to raise the threshold above 1000000 tonnes for statistical coverage of inland waterways transport, to adapt definitions or provide for new ones, as well as to adapt the Annexes to this Regulation to reflect changes in coding and nomenclature at international level or in the relevant Union legislative acts. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-MakingOJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.. In particular, in order to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.(8)The Commission should ensure that those delegated acts do not impose a significant additional burden on the Member States or on the respondents.(9)In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission so as to enable it to adopt arrangements for transmitting data, including data interchange standards, for the dissemination of results by the Commission (Eurostat) and also to develop and to publish methodological requirements and criteria designed to ensure the quality of the data produced. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13)..(10)It is necessary for the Commission to arrange for pilot studies to be conducted on the availability of statistical data relating to passenger transport by inland waterways, including by cross border transport services. The Union should contribute to the cost of carrying out those pilot studies. Such contributions should take the form of grants awarded to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1)..(11)Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the creation of common statistical standards that permit the production of harmonised data, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the scale of that creation, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: