32012R0070

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THIS REGULATION?

• It sets out the rules for the production of comparable EU-wide statistics on goods transport by road.
• It revises and repeals Regulation (EC) No 1172/98, which had been amended several times, and aligns the regulation with the Lisbon treaty with regard to the delegation of powers to the European Commission to adopt supplementary legislation.

KEY POINTS

Scope

EU countries must each compile and transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) data relating to freight transported by means of road transport vehicles registered on their territory.

The regulation does not apply to freight transported by:

• goods road transport vehicles whose authorised weight or dimensions exceed the limits normally permitted in the EU countries concerned;
• agricultural vehicles, military vehicles and vehicles belonging to central or local public administrations, with the exception of goods road transport vehicles belonging to public companies , and in particular railway companies.

EU countries may exclude goods road transport vehicles whose load capacity or maximum permissible weight is lower than a certain limit. That limit may not exceed a load capacity of 3.5 tonnes or a maximum permissible weight of 6 tonnes in the case of single motor vehicles.

The regulation does not apply to Malta so long as the number of Maltese-registered goods road transport vehicles licensed to engage in the international carriage of freight by road does not exceed 400 vehicles.

Data collection and transmission

Every quarter, by means of sample surveys, EU countries must compile and transmit data to Eurostat relating to 3 areas:

• vehicles (see the regulation’s Annexes I and II);
• journeys (see the regulation’s Annex III);
• goods (see the regulation’s Annexes IV and V).

EU countries must transmit data within 5 months of the end of the quarter under observation.

Dissemination of results

Eurostat disseminates the data no later than 12 months after the end of the period to which they relate.

Reports

When they forward the data for the first quarter, EU countries send a report to Eurostat on the methods used to compile data. They must also inform Eurostat if they make any substantial changes to these methods. Every year, they must provide Eurostat with information on sample sizes, non-response rates and, in the form of standard error or confidence intervals, the reliability of the main statistical results.

The Commission (Eurostat) must report for the first time by December 2014, and thereafter every 3 years, to the European Parliament and the Council on the regulation’s implementation.

Committee

The Commission is advised and assisted by the European Statistical System Committee established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

Powers delegated to the Commission

The Commission has not yet exercised the power to adopt delegated acts that the regulation granted to it. In a report, published in 2016, the Commission explained that neither economic and technical developments in the field of road freight transport nor conclusions of the Commission’s Working Groups on road freight statistics involving experts from EU countries raised the need to use these delegated powers.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

It has applied since 23 February 2012.

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

• Road freight transport statistics (Eurostat).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (OJ L 32, 3.2.2012, pp. 1-18)

Successive amendments to Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 have been incorporated into the original document. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission under Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (COM(2016) 562 final, 12.9.2016)

Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (COM(2015) 17 final, 26.1.2015)