OPINION OF MR MAYRAS — CASE 145/78 AUGUSTIJN v STAATSSECRETARIS VAN VERKEER EN WATERSTAAT

Mr President,

Members of the Court,

Introduction

In its judgment of 29 November 1978 in Case 21/78, Delkvist, a reference for a preliminary ruling by Københavens Byret (Copenhagen City Court), the Court ruled on the interpretation of certain provisions of Council Directive No 74/562/EEC of 12 November 1974 on admission to the occupation of road passenger transport operator in national and international transport operations. The provisions at issue in that case concerned the condition relating to good repute to be satisfied by transport operators.

These two references to the Court for a preliminary ruling from the Netherlands Raad van State, Afdeling Rechtspraak (Council of State, Administrative Appeals Section) concern the interpretation of Council Directive No 74/561/EEC on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator in national and international transport operations.

As in the directive on passenger transport operations, three conditions are laid down for admission to the occupation (Article 3):

The Court's ruling is sought on the interpretation of the provisions concerning the third of those conditions.

First, it should be pointed out that under Article 3 (4) of Directive No 74/561 the concept of professional competence consists in the possession of skills listed in the Annex to the directive and recognized by the authority or body designated for that purpose by each Member State. The necessary knowledge can be acquired by attending courses, by practical experience in a transport undertaking or by a combination of both.

These are the principles which are to be implemented by the Member States.

However, the directive also comprises transitional provisions for the purpose of allowing the national authorities to adjust their internal legislation to the Community system.

These provisions, which I shall come back to, are laid down in Articles 4 and 5.

I shall examine each of the two cases in turn, beginning with a brief statement of the facts which gave rise to the actions before the national court.

I —. In the first action, the appellant is Arianus Petrus Augustijn, born in 1927. It is not disputed that he has worked for more than 30 years as a road haulage operator, first in a family undertaking set up by his father then, as from 1948, in a partnership known as Gebroeders Augustijn (Augustijn Brothers). Originally consisting of four partners, namely the appellant and his three brothers, that partnership obtained authorization in 1956 to undertake the transport of goods to no fixed schedules for a total payload subsequently increased to 52 tonnes.

II —. As to Case 146/78 (Wattenberg), it should be noted as a preliminary point that under the WAG and the decision adopted to implement it professional transport operators must be in possession of a technical diploma issued by the Stichting Bureau Examens voor het Beroepsgoederenvervoer over de weg (Examining body for road haulage operators) of Rijswijk and in addition have obtained from the Rijksinspecteur van het Verkeer (National Traffic Inspector) a declaration certifying two years' practical experience in paid employment with an undertaking engaged in the carriage of goods.

My view is that the Court should answer the questions raised in the manner indicated in this opinion.

1 Translated from the French.