Community licence for LCVs
From 21 May, companies carrying out international transport with vehicles whose maximum permissible weight exceeds 2.5 tonnes will have to have the appropriate authorisations. Until now, the Community licence has only applied to vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of over 3.5 tonnes.
The most important change for LCVs with a fleet of less than 3.5 tons is the introduction of the Community license, which was not required until now.
However, the Community Licence does not apply to carriers carrying out national transport. This means that only transport operators crossing the internal borders of the European Union in the course of their services must have such a document.
For instance, in Poland, The General Inspector of Road Transport (GITD) based in Warsaw is responsible for issuing the Community licence.
The application must be completed: time of period they wish to obtain a community license (up to 5 years or from 5 to 10 years), as well as the number of extracts requested and the number of vehicles to be entered (any vehicle that will be used in international transport must be entered in the license).
How to obtain a Community license?
The application for a Community license should be preceded by obtaining an autorisation to pursue the occupation of road transport operator, as the applicant is required to attach to the application for a Community license, among other things: the autorisation to pursue the occupation of road transport operator of goods as well as a certificate on the number of vehicles for which the requirement of financial capacity has been documented.
Pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) 1072/2009. “The Community licence shall be issued by a Member State, in accordance with this Regulation, to any road haulage operator for hire or reward who is established in that Member State (…) and who is entitled in the Member State of establishment, (…) with regard to admission to the occupation of road haulage operator, to engage in the international carriage of goods by road1″. This provision in fact creates a new obligation for LCVs to respect.
Moreover, it should be stressed in this context that, only certified copy of the Community license must be kept in each of the carrier’s vehicles and must be presented at any request of the inspecting officer.
How to obtain the authorization to operate as a road transport operator
In order to obtain the authorization to practice the profession of road transport operator, the transport company must meet additional conditions specified in the national and European regulations.
The exercise of the profession of road transport operator is conditioned by meeting four requirements, obligations concerning access to the profession:
- requirement of establishment to have an effective and stable establishment in that Member State, with premises in which it keeps the documents essential to its activity, in particular its accounting documents, personnel management documents, and documents containing data relating to driving and rest periods;
- requirement of good repute, in particular, art.6 b) of Reg. 1071/2009 stipulates that: “The transport manager or the transport company has not been subject, in one or more Member States, to a serious criminal conviction or sanction for a serious infringement of Community rules concerning in particular: (i) drivers’ driving and rest periods, working time and the installation and use of recording equipment”. 1
- requirement to have appropriate financial capacity, i.e. the company must demonstrate, on the basis of annual accounts certified by an auditor or a duly accredited person, that it has capital and reserves totalling at least EUR 9,000 each year when only one vehicle is used and EUR 5,000 for each additional vehicle used.
- required professional competence – Certificate of professional competence
