Textual Amendments
F1 Substituted by Council Directive 98/76/EC of 1 October 1998 amending Directive 96/26/EC on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator and road passenger transport operator and mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications intended to facilitate for these operators the right to freedom of establishment in national and international transport operations.
The knowledge to be taken into consideration for the official recognition of professional competence by the Member States must cover at least the subjects listed below for road haulage and road passenger transport respectively. In relation to these subjects, applicant road haulage and road passenger transport operators must have the levels of knowledge and practical aptitude necessary for the management of a transport undertaking.
The minimum level of knowledge, as indicated below, may not be below level 3 of the the training-level structure laid down in the Annex to Decision 85/368/EEC (1) , that is the level achieved in training acquired in the course of compulsory education supplemented either by vocational training and supplementary technical training or by secondary-level school technical training.
The applicant must, in particular:
be familiar with the main types of contract used in road transport and with the rights and obligations arising therefrom;
be capable of negotiating a legally valid transport contract, notably with regard to conditions of carriage;
The applicant must, in particular:
be familiar with the conditions and formalities laid down for plying the trade, the general obligations incumbent upon transport operators (registration, keeping records, etc.) and the consequences of bankruptcy;
have appropriate knowledge of the various forms of commercial company and the rules governing their constitution and operation.
The applicant must, in particular:
be familiar with the role and function of the various social institutions which are concerned with road transport (trade unions, works councils, shop stewards, labour inspectors, etc.);
be familiar with the employers' social security obligations;
be familiar with the rules governing work contracts for the various categories of worker employed by road transport undertakings (form of the contracts, obligations of the parties, working conditions and working hours, paid leave, remuneration, breach of contract, etc.);
The applicant must, in particular, be familiar with the rules governing:
VAT on transport services;
motor-vehicle tax;
the taxes on certain road haulage vehicles and tolls and infrastructure user charges;
income tax.
The applicant must, in particular:
be familiar with the laws and practices regarding the use of cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes, credit cards and other means or method of payment;
be familiar with the various forms of credit (bank credit, documentary credit, guarantee deposits, mortgages, leasing, renting, factoring, etc.) and with the charges and obligations arising from them;
know what a balance sheet is, how it is set out and how to interpret it;
be able to read and interpret a profit and loss account;
be able to assess the undertakings's profitability and financial position, in particular on the basis of financial ratios;
be able to prepare a budget;
be familiar with his undertaking's cost elements (fixed costs, variable costs, working capital, depreciation, etc.), and be able to calculate costs per vehicle, per kilometre, per journey or per tonne;
be able to draw up an organisation chart relating to the undertaking's personnel as a whole and to organise work plans, etc.;
be familiar with the principles of marketing, publicity and public relations, including transport services sales promotion and the preparation of customer files, etc.;
be familiar with the different types of insurance relating to road transport (liability, accidental injury/life insurance, non-life and luggage insurance) and with the guarantees and obligations arising therefrom;
be familiar with the applications of electronic data transmission in road transport;
The applicant must, in particular:
be familiar with the occupational regulations governing road transport for hire or reward, industrial vehicle rental and sub-contracting, and in particular the rules governing the official organisation of the occupation, admission to the occupation, authorisations for intra- and extra-Community road transport operations, inspections and sanctions;
be familiar with the rules for setting up a road transport undertaking;
be familiar with the various documents required for operating road transport services and be able to introduce checking procedures for ensuring that the approved documents relating to each transport operation, and in particular those relating to the vehicle, the driver, the goods and luggage are kept both in the vehicle and on the premises of the undertaking;
The applicant must, in particular:
be familiar with the rules concerning the weights and dimensions of vehicles in the Member States and the procedures to be followed in the case of abnormal loads which constitute an exception to these rules;
be able to choose vehicles and their components (chassis, engine, transmission system, braking system, etc.) in accordance with the needs of the undertaking;
be familiar with the formalities relating to the type approval, registration and technical inspection of these vehicles;
understand what measures must be taken to reduce noise and to combat air pollution by motor vehicle exhaust emissions;
be able to draw up periodic maintenance plans for the vehicles and their equipment;
The applicant must, in particular:
know what qualifications are required for drivers (driving licence, medical certificates, certificates of fitness, etc.);
be able to take the necessary steps to ensure that drivers comply with the traffic rules, prohibitions and restrictions in force in different Member States (speed limits, priorities, waiting and parking restrictions, use of lights, road signs, etc.);
be able to draw up drivers' instructions for checking their compliance with the safety requirements concerning the condition of the vehicles, their equipment and cargo, and concerning preventive measures to be taken;
be able to lay down procedures to be followed in the event of an accident and to implement appropriate procedures for preventing the recurrence of accidents or serious traffic offences;
The compulsory written examination shall involve two tests, namely:
written questions consisting of either multiple choice questions (each with four possible answers), questions requiring direct answers or a combination of both systems,
written exercises/case studies.
The minimum duration of each test is two hours.
Where an oral examination is organised, Member States may stipulate that participation is subject to successful completion of the written examination.
Where Member States organise only a written examination they must provide, in respect of each test, for a weighting of marks of a minimum of 40 % and a maximum of 60 % of the total number of marks to be given.
[F1Council Decision 85/368/EEC of 16 July 1985 on the comparability of vocational training qualifications between the Member States of the European Community ( OJ L 199, 31. 7. 1985, p. 56 ).
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 of 20 December 1985 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport ( OJ L 370, 31. 12. 1985, p. 1 ).
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 of 20 December 1985 on recording equipment in road transport ( OJ L 370, 31. 12. 1985, p. 8 ). Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1056/97 ( OJ L 154, 12. 6. 1997, p. 21 ).
Council Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November 1994 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road ( OJ L 319, 12. 12. 1994, p. 7 ). Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 96/86/EC ( OJ L 335, 24. 12. 1996, p. 43 ).
Council Directive 96/35/EC of 3 June 1996 on the appointment and vocational qualification of safety advisers for the transport of dangerous goods by road, rail and inland waterway ( OJ L 145, 19. 6. 1996, p. 10 ).
Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community ( OJ L 30, 6. 12. 1993, p. 1 ). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 120/97 ( OJ L 22, 24. 1. 1997, p. 14 ).]
Textual Amendments
F1 Substituted by Council Directive 98/76/EC of 1 October 1998 amending Directive 96/26/EC on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator and road passenger transport operator and mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications intended to facilitate for these operators the right to freedom of establishment in national and international transport operations.