The key points which will be developed in the present document concern road and rail carriage. A brief reference will be made to the degree of liberalization per specific market, before addressing questions regarding the conclusion and functioning of the contract of transport under private law.
ACCESS TO THE INTERNATIONAL & THE GREEK TRANSPORT MARKET
Conditions of access to the transport market are mainly regulated by EU Law, as follows:
The international carriage of goods by road for hire or reward for journeys carried out within the European Union (EU) is governed by Regulation No 1072/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 on common rules for access to the international road haulage market, as amended by Regulations 612/2012 and 517/2013 (the latter has been repealed by EU Regulation 2015/1589). When the carriage takes place between an EU country and a non-EU country, this regulation applies to the part of the journey on the territory of any EU country crossed in transit. It is not applicable to the part of the journey on the territory of the EU country of loading or unloading. This regulation also applies to the national carriage of goods by road carried out temporarily by a nonresident haulier. International carriage is undertaken subject to possession of a Community licence and, if the driver is a non-EU national, in conjunction with a driver attestation. Cabotage operations may be carried out by any haulier who is a Community licence holder and whose driver, if a non-EU national, holds a driver attestation, but only on a temporary basis, following an incoming international carriage. According to article 8 par. 1 of the above mentioned Regulation, any haulier for hire or reward who is a holder of a Community licence and whose driver, if he is a national of a third country, holds a driver attestation, shall be entitled, under the conditions and the time restrictions (following an international carriage) laid down in the Chapter of the Regulation related to cabotage, to carry out cabotage operations. In principle, cabotage operations are covered by national legislation in the following areas:
