Brochure Anniversary - Euro Controle Route

10 years Euro Contrôle Route
InformatIon brochure

1999 – 2009...
TEn yEaRs of ConsTRuCTion and EvoluTion
of EuRo ConTRôlE RouTE
ECR, an organisation created due to the determination of four
Ministers of Transport from the Benelux and France and their
inspection services to cooperate effectively on controlling the
transport of goods and passengers by road, today has 14 member
countries.
At a time when the transport sector was being liberalised and
freedom of circulation for vehicles was being introduced throughout
the European Union, the inspection services could no longer remain
isolated behind their borders.
It is this evolution of Euro Contrôle Route that we invite you to
discover in the following pages.
The President of Euro Contrôle Route
Juan Miguel SANCHEZ

1999 – 2000
THE BEGinninGs of EuRo ConTRôlE RouTE
As of 1994 it was the wish of the three Benelux countries to establish a
collaboration in the area of road transport control. The working group set up for
this purpose was joined by France in 1997, and the four countries decided to
significantly strengthen their cooperation in this area.
What they wanted was an ongoing action with clear objectives, and thus on
5 October 1999 the four ministers responsible for transport, in the margin of
a Transport Council meeting, signed the Administrative Arrangement creating Euro
Contrôle Route (ECR). The primary objective of this Administrative Arrangement is
to create and maintain a uniform and high level of transport safety with respect to
the use of road transport vehicles (whether for own account or for the account of
others) in Europe. It also provides for:
• the institution of a regular and reliable exchange of information;
• the development and implementation of common and coordinated activities
among the signatory parties and with other interested parties, by making
optimal use of the available technologies;
• the organisation of joint training programmes for the inspection services
and the promotion of cross-border exchanges of experiences;
• the development of a uniform control procedure;
• the development of a common standard for equipment, including the
promotion of joint technological developments;
• the institution of ongoing consultation on the situation in the area
concerned and the preparation of proposals and recommendations.
Improving road safety in Europe through cooperation and harmonisation is a major
concern of ECR.

2001
EuRo ConTRôlE RouTE:
an EXCHanGE of EXPERiEnCEs and BEsT PRaCTiCEs
To institute an optimal exchange of data, know-how and best practices, each year
ECR organises a range of bilateral and multilateral exchanges.
Inspectors from different member countries are welcomed for a week in one of the
countries. There they participate in checks and, via presentations, get to know the
organisation and regulations which are specific to the host country. They work in
small groups on a specific theme and can thus share their experiences. Parallel to
its exchange programme, ECR also introduced an accompaniment programme which
permits the visiting inspectors to observe their colleagues from the host country in
the exercise of their daily activities during a two-week period. They also assist in
road checks, which gives them a close-up view of the implemented inspection
procedures. The objective of these exchanges is twofold: to produce a better
understanding of the host country’s control procedures, and to constitute a
platform for the exchange of experiences.
In 2008 it was decided to expand the training
programme and to introduce a new
multilateral exchange concept, the Middle
Management Conference. The idea is to
incorporate the middle management into the
target audience of the exchanges, in order to
create a space where experiences and best
practices can be shared.
2001 was also the year of accession for both
Germany (April 2001) and Ireland (October
2001).

2002
EuRo ConTRôlE RouTE: THE EXPansion
2002 was a year of continuous expansion. After Germany and Ireland, it was the
turn of the United Kingdom and Spain to join ECR (in April and July 2002,
respectively).
The expansion of ECR was greatly favoured by its highly flexible accession
procedure. Any member country of the European Union which is seriously interested
in cooperating in the area of road transport control can join Euro Contrôle Route.
If it wishes, the candidate country can be first received as an observer for a
maximum period of 12 months. It can ask to become a member at any time during
this period.
Once its candidacy has been approved by the Steering Committee, the candidate
country takes the steps which are necessary so that its Minister in charge of
transport can sign the accession protocol, which is then also signed by the minister
in charge of transport of the country currently presiding over ECR. The protocol is
very straightforward: it simply indicates that the new country adheres to
everything which is set forth in the Administrative Arrangement.
During the course of this second period, the country is still an observer, but it
participates in all of the activities of ECR.

2003
WEEKs of CooRdinaTEd CHECKs and daTa EXCHanGE
ECR currently has three working groups within which experts from different
countries work on the following themes: training, harmonisation, the organisation
of coordinated checks and exchanges of information.
These coordinated check weeks, imposed by the EU, are organised by the OPSED
working group (Operations and Data Exchanges). They concentrate on specific
themes such as: driving and resting hours, excessive loads, the proper securing of
loads, the transport of dangerous goods, and so on.
Targeted are vehicles suspected of violating the regulations which correspond to the
chosen theme. In light of the growing number of goods transport vehicles and
coaches that use the European motorways, it is necessary to coordinate the checks
if one wishes to improve their effectiveness, and that is how more than 100,000
vehicles are inspected each year during these weeks.
The data collected during the course of these checks are analysed by the working
group in order to adapt the inspection measures and inform the European
Commission.
ECR is also a framework within which the Member
States exchange data relating to offences
committed abroad by their nationals. In the past,
these countries had great difficulty knowing
precisely what type of offences their operators
committed abroad, and so these offences were
rarely taken into account when a company was
evaluated. Thanks to the exchange of information
within ECR, the Member States are now informed of
the activities of their operators, and of any serious
offences committed abroad. This represents one
further step towards improving road safety.

2004
ConTRol of TRansPoRTs and PoliCE:
WoRKinG ToGETHER To iMPRovE Road safETy
ECR has always emphasised the importance of cooperation. Not only among its own
ranks, but also with other organisations, especially those directly involved in road
safety. In 2004, five years after the creation, ECR began a cooperation with TISPOL,
the European network of traffic police.
These two organisations collaborate during several weeks of coordinated checks and
jointly organise training sessions. Each year, ECR participates in the seminar devoted
to road safety at the police school in Münster and contributes to its success. The
training courses given during these seminars thus reach a public composed of both
road police agents and inspectors. They therefore make it possible to meet agents
from different services and countries, but whose duties with regard to road
transport control are often complementary. These training courses have proven to
be extremely useful.
The cooperation with TISPOL has been strengthened over the years.
An important project was jointly developed: the TWG working group (Tacho Web
Group), composed of representatives of TISPOL and ECR, whose role is to work on
tachograph fraud, and more particularly on the new forms of fraud involving the
digital tachograph. Abundant documentation has been produced, notably a manual
on tachograph fraud which was jointly drafted by ECR and TISPOL. This
documentation is often highly technical, and so it is essential to regularly update
the information collected. The website devoted to digital tachograph fraud is
hosted by TISPOL, but the two organisations ECR and TISPOL have access to it under
the same conditions.

2005
EuRo ConTRôlE RouTE:
REaCHinG ouT To oTHER oRGanisaTions
ECR has also established relationships with other organisations which are seeking to
improve road safety in Europe.
CITA (International Motor
Vehicle Inspection Committee)
and ECR have been working
together since 2005 in the area
of road safety by exchanging
information on various themes,
notably on standards and best
practices with regard to
technical roadside inspections of
vehicles.
IRU (International Road Transport Union) is an international organisation which
defends the interests of the road transport industry throughout the world. It
represents those interests vis-à-vis the public authorities, private bodies and the
media. It is important that these two organisations consult with one another and
collaborate in order to facilitate road transport in Europe.
CORTE (Confederation of Organisations in Road Transport Enforcement) brings
together and coordinates on the European level expertise on all matters relating to
road transport. CORTE focuses on the legal aspect of road safety control, while ECR
concentrates on its implementation. Nevertheless, the two organisations are
working together to provide the best possible input on the European level.

2006
Road safETy: a EuRoPEan oBJECTivE
ECR very quickly realised that if one wishes to achieve genuine pan-European
improvement of road safety, it is important to work with the European institutions,
and more particularly with the Commission.
While it is true that all of the Member States are individually represented in the
European Commission's working groups, the ECR members discuss these questions
just as much within the ECR working groups in order to help the Commission to
properly understand the problems that the road transport control services
encounter.
Over the years, a number of initiatives developed by the ECR working groups have
been adopted by the Commission: the leave letter, the classification of offences, the
development of risk scores...
Moreover, within the HARMONISATION Working Group, ECR seeks to adapt all of
their materials to the modifications of the Commission´s directives. This not only
saves the various Member States from having to do a great deal of adaptation work
themselves, but also gives them an opportunity to develop a common interpretation
of the EC directives and laws.

2007
a nEW adMinisTRaTivE aRRanGEMEnT foR ECR
2007 was a year of renewal and preparation.
As a result of the considerable expansion of
ECR, and in order to respond to its changing
needs, a new Administrative Arrangement was
signed on March 22nd by the Ministers in
charge of transport for Luxembourg, Belgium,
the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United
Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Poland, Romania,
Bulgaria, Ireland and Italy. This new
arrangement set up an executive body
responsible for the day-to-day management,
better defined the management of the Secretariat, and finally introduced new
budget procedures as well as clearly defined conditions for admitting new countries.
Later that year, Hungary also signed the Administrative Arrangement and became a
full-fledged ECR member.
Structure:
STEERING COMMITTEE
EXECUTIVE COMMITEE
SECRETARIAT
HAR WORKING GROUP TRAINING WORKING GROUP OPSED WORKING GROUP
2007 was also the year of the new ECR website (www.euro-contrôle-route.eu)
designed to facilitate the ECR operations and promote the cooperation with other
organisations, a cooperation which has proven highly useful in the past (see 2005
and 2006).

2008
EuRo ConTRôlE RouTE EXPloREs nEW PaTHs
In 2008, ECR participated in a study of the European
Union entitled TUNER (Transport Undertakings
Electronic Register) aimed at establishing a
´European Register of Road Transport Undertakings´
(ERRU) that seeks to establish equality of access to
the profession.
ECR played a crucial role in this regard by collecting
the necessary data on the existing national registers,
defining the legal imperatives, and finally evaluating
the costs and benefits of the project. In December,
the draft report of the study was approved by the
Commission and in February 2009 the consortium
received the final approval.
In 2008 it was decided to expand the training programme and to introduce a new
concept of multilateral exchange, the Middle Management Conference. The idea is
to incorporate the middle management into the target audience of the exchanges,
in order to create a space where experiences and best practices can be shared.

2009
These ten years of activities have demonstrated that - despite our differences in
language, culture, customs and organisation - the harmonisation of our practices
remains a realistic objective, even though it might take a little longer to be fully
achieved.
Today Euro Contrôle Route has the following 14 member countries:
Belgium Ireland Romania
Netherlands United Kingdom Bulgaria
Luxembourg Spain Italy
France Austria Hungary
Germany Poland
In addition, six countries have expressed their interest in ECR and have currently
been received as observers: Lithuania, which should become the fifteenth member
country in the very near future, as well as Latvia, Malta, the Czech Republic,
Slovenia and Switzerland.
ECR is ready to welcome other countries once they have expressed the same
determination to cooperate in the area of road transport control as that of the
current members.

WHaT doEs ECR MEan To THE MEMBER sTaTEs?
Belgium:
"Opening doors, learning how others operate, aligning practices, moving towards most uniform approach
possible to monitoring respect of the European regulations. . . these are just a few of the ideas which
prompted the formation of ECR by France and the three Benelux countries in 1999.
The fact that many more countries have joined ECR since then demonstrates that these basic ideas were
the right ones, and should encourage us to continue together in this direction."
Netherlands:
“ECR opens doors to good practices of other countries. One voice, one approach.”
Luxembourg:
"The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a founding member country of ECR like the Netherlands and Belgium,
its partners within the BENELUX, deeply appreciates the work done on harmonising inspections over the
10 years of ECR´s existence. The authorities of the GD of Luxembourg, a transit country for road transport,
are delighted with the positive impact the ECR has had on road safety.“
France:
“ECR´s ten years of activity have demonstrated that - despite our differences in language, culture, customs
and organisation - the harmonisation of our practices remains a realistic objective, even though it might
take a little longer to be fully achieved.”
Germany:
“The participation of Germany in ECR is a very important part of the international cooperation with the
other EU Member States.
Germany has a great benefit by this partnership and develops solutions for more harmonization and
increase a higher level of traffic security in Europe.”
United Kingdom:
“Membership of ECR has given the UK the opportunity to work more closely with its European Partners to
achieve our common aim of improving road safety. In particular the multi lateral training events have
proved to be an extremely useful way for our staff to understand the working practices of other member
states and to help them to increase their knowledge of international transport.”
Spain:
“The European common transport regulation is very important to create a European market on services,
but it means nothing without a common application of such regulations. However, ten year ago several
countries founded ECR to try to harmonize the way the controls on the road and in the premises are really
made.
The best result we got in these years: a common procedure to make the control of road haulage in all our
countries.”

Austria:
“Situated in the middle of Europe, Austria deals with heavy goods and passenger transit on a day to day
basis.
Euro Controle Route has given Austria the opportunity to expand their control activities, which they
started in 1978.”
Poland:
“In October 2004 the Inspection of Road Transport in Poland joined ECR. Cooperation within ECR is aimed
at the improvement of control activities concerning road transport in the EU, which is of great importance
to contribute to an improvement of the level of compliance with the law and promotion of fair
competition in this area. We also find that our membership in ECR is a good opportunity to discuss the
matters related to road transport and to exchange some experience, ideas.”
Romania:
“Harmonised enforcement procedures, European training standards, exchange of experience, and a
continuous challenge for improvement. ECR can really make it happen!”
Bulgaria:
“ECR is the opportunity to move further towards more effective and harmonised enforcement system of
road transport in Europe.”
Hungary:
“A european platform for sharing and exchanging valuable enforcement expertise, establishing best
practices, thus contributing to harmonized operations resulting in uniform procedures for a safer road
transport.”
Lithuania:
“Participation in ECR gives an opportunity to be informed about positions of countries related with
supervision of road transport as well as to be informed about the new developments in the field of control
of road transport. It is very useful to change the experience of best practise and to adopt the most
efficient measures in everyday work.
ECR also gives an opportunity to member states to be policy makers in EU in area of road transport.”
Responsible publisher: ECR Secretariat, Rue de la Régence 39, 1000 Brussels
Edited by: Ann De Vries, Sonja Van Rossem
Editorial secretary: Nelly Temmerman
Translation by the Translation department of the Benelux Secretariat-general
Many thanks to the ECR members for their contribution.
Legal deposit : D/2009/12.086/1
www.euro-controle-route.eu
Lay-out: www.colorstudio.be
© ECR