The state of the liberalisation process in the market of coach regular services in EU countries

AutorAlessandro Zampone y Alessandro Cardinali
Cargo del AutorFull Professor Sapienza Università di Roma/PhD Candidate Università degli studi di Sassari
Páginas377-397
THE STATE OF THE LIBERALISATION PROCESS
IN THE MARKET OF COACH REGULAR SERVICES
IN EU COUNTRIES*
Alessandro ZAMPONE**
Full Professor
Sapienza Università di Roma
Alessandro CARDINALI***
PhD Candidate
Università degli studi di Sassari
ABSTRACT: The study provides a scrutiny of the legislation through which the libe-
ralisation process of coach regular services has being implemented within the EU,
with special reference to France, Germany and Italy. A f‌irst summary analysis will
take into account the legislation in the subject matter adopted by the European
Union bodies and by the Member States of France and Germany. A more tho-
rough analysis will be made with reference to the Italian system of coach transport
services which has recently been object of amendments intended to intensify the
deregulation of the market.
Keywords: coach services; regular services; transport of passengers; liberalisation.
* The present study has been carried out in the framework of the research project «Transport faced
with the challenges of technological development and globalization: new solutions as regards liability
and competition» (Ref. PID2019-107204GB-C33), f‌inanced by MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033/.
** Author of paragraphs 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 of section II.
*** Author of section I, paragraphs 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1, 2.2 of section II and section III.
378 ALESSANDRO ZAMPONE - ALESSANDRO CARDINALI
EL ESTADO DEL PROCESO DE LIBERALIZACIÓN
DEL MERCADO DE LOS SERVICIOS REGULARES
EN AUTOCAR EN LOS PAÍSES DE LA UE
RESUMEN: El trabajo ofrece un análisis de la legislación que ha llevado a cabo el
proceso de liberalización de los servicios regulares en autocar en la UE, con espe-
cial referencia a Francia, Alemania e Italia. Realiza un primer análisis sucinto de
la legislación en la materia adoptada por los organismos de la Unión Europea y
por Francia y Alemania. Efectúa un análisis más profundo del sistema italiano de
servicios de transporte en autocar, que recientemente ha sido objeto de modif‌ica-
ciones destinadas a intensif‌icar la desregulación del mercado.
Palabras clave: transporte en autocar, servicios de transporte regular, transporte de
pasajeros, liberalización.
INDEX: I. INTRODUCTION.—II. THE LIBERALISATION OF COACH REGULAR SERVICES ACROSS
EUROPE: 1. European Legislation on Coach Services: 1.1. International Transport within the EU.
1.2. Cabotage. 2. Member States’ Legislation on Coach Services: The Cases of Germany and
France: 2.1. Germany. 2.2. France. 3. The Liberalisation Process in Italy: 3.1. National Scheduled
Transport Services in the Light of Legislative Decree 285/2005. 3.2. The Conditions for Accessing
the Service. 3.3. Temporary Joint Ventures.—III. CONCLUSIONS.—IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
I. INTRODUCTION
Long-distance coach transport services have long been occupying a second-
ary role in the European transportation system1. Generally, faster modes of
passengers’ transport as rail services or air lines are considered more attractive
and received much of the attention of policy makers. Coach services were per-
ceived as means to connect residual routes, not covered by the aforementioned
transportation modes. Especially in countries where a dense rail network has
been developed over the time, inland transport of passengers was (and still
is) mainly performed by trains, often high-speed ones. Coach services in these
countries were often regulated to favour inland connections by railway. This
was the case for example in France and Germany2. As some authors pointed
out, coach transport served «as an ancillary mode to extend the range of rail
accessibility»3. Plus, more than one of today EU Member States experienced
1 D. Van de Velde, «Long-Distance Bus Services in Europe: Concessions or Free Market», Internation-
al Transport Forum, OECD/ITF Joint Transport Research Centre Discussion Papers, December 2009, p.3,
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/5kmmr3br9932-en.pdf?expires=1637940806&id=id&accname=g
uest&checksum=FB6B564B5B72B4362A98CCE9D8314C77 (accesed 26 November 2021).
2 See T. blayac and P. brouGeTT, «Should I Go by Bus? The Liberalization of the Long-distance Bus
Industry in France», Transport Policy, No.56, 2017, p.51. For France and Germany, see: M. scHieFel-
buscH, «Past and Future Regulation of Interurban Coach Services in Germany», Journal of Transport
Economics and Policy, No.47, 2013, p.300.
3 R. Grimaldi, K. auGusTin and P. beria, «Intercity Coach Liberalisation. The Case of Germany and
Italy», Transportation Research Procedia, No.25, p.474.

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