A Community licence is required if you carry goods for hire or reward using a motor vehicle or a combination of vehicles with a maximum permissible laden mass exceeding 3 500 kilograms and a design speed of more than 40 kilometres per hour.
Starting from 21 May 2022, a Community licence is required for the international carriage of goods for hire or reward using a motor vehicle or a combination of vehicles with a maximum permissible laden mass exceeding 2 500 kilograms and a design speed of more than 40 kilometres per hour.
According to Article 1(5) of [Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009] of the European Parliament and of the Council (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ET/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02009R1072-20220221&qid=1651560663686&from=ET), a Community licence is not required for the following international and/or national carriage of goods:
- carriage of mail as a universal service;
- carriage of vehicles which have suffered damage or breakdown;
- national carriage of goods in vehicles, including trailers, which do not exceed the permissible laden mass maximum of 3.5 tonnes;
- until 20 May 2022: international carriage of goods in vehicles the maximum permissible laden mass of which, including trailers, does not exceed 3.5 tonnes;
- from 21 May 2022: international carriage of goods in vehicles the maximum permissible laden mass of which, including trailers, does not exceed 2.5 tonnes;
- carriage of goods in motor vehicles provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:
- the goods carried are the property of the undertaking or have been sold, bought, let out on hire or hired, produced, extracted, processed or repaired by the undertaking;
- the purpose of the journey is to carry the goods to or from the undertaking or to move them, either inside or outside the undertaking for its own needs;
- motor vehicles used for such carriage are driven by personnel employed by, or put at the disposal of, the undertaking under a contractual obligation;
- the vehicles carrying the goods are owned by the undertaking, have been bought by it on deferred terms or have been hired provided that in the latter case they meet the conditions of Directive 2006/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2006 on the use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road. The provision of this subparagraph does not apply to the use of a replacement vehicle during a short breakdown of the vehicle normally used;
- such carriage is no more than ancillary to the overall activities of the undertaking.
- carriage of medicinal products, appliances, equipment and other articles required for medical care in emergency relief, in particular for natural disasters.
The following national carriage may be engaged in without the licence:
- carriage of snow and ice in conjunction with snow-clearing or de-icing;
- carriage of agricultural products by an agricultural producer to a buyer or processor within the radius of 65 kilometres from the place of business of the agricultural producer;
- carriage of firewood or wood chips by a timber industry undertaking to a buyer or processor within the radius of 50 kilometres from the place of business of the timber industry undertaking;
- carriage of the deceased;
- carriage of waste, effluent, wastewater and garbage;
- carriage in a concrete mixer truck;
- carriage in a combination of vehicles that consists of an automobile and a trailer whose laden mass does not exceed 3,500 kilograms;
- carriage in a combination of vehicles that consists of a special power-driven vehicle that is not designated for the carriage of goods and a trailer whose laden mass does not exceed 3,500 kilograms;
- carriage of vehicles designated for the organisation of a sports event or for competing as well as carriage of a vehicle, animal or equipment by a motor vehicle or combination of vehicles whose laden mass does not exceed 7,500 kilograms.
The licence is issued for ten years, if the applicant does not require it for a shorter period. Based on the public law contract concluded with the Ministry of Climate, licence applications are processed and the licence shall be issued by the Association of Estonian International Road
Legal bases
- Road Transport Act (hereinafter AutoVS);
- Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator and repealing Council Directive 96/26/EC (Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009);
- Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for access to the international road haulage market (Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009).
Requirements for the licence applicant and carrier
‘Carrier’ means a person entered in the commercial register or register of non-profit associations and foundations, which holds a Community licence issued on the basis of the Road Transport Act.
Licence applicants and carriers must comply with the following requirements:
- licence applicants and carriers must comply with the requirements established in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and in Article 7 of the Road Transport Act;
- licence applicants and carriers must be registered in the commercial register or in the register of non-profit associations and foundations;
- licence applicants and carriers must communicate to the licence issuer the address of their establishment in Estonia where the documents specified in Article 5(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council are kept (unless the address overlaps with the address of the establishment of the undertaking registered in the commercial register or in the register of non-profit associations and foundations);
- licence applicants, carriers and persons authorised to manage an applicant or a carrier (hereinafter referred to as Chief Executives) must be of good repute;
- licence applicants and carriers must designate and the transport activities of carriers must continuously be managed by at least one transport manager who is of good repute and occupationally competent;
- in the event of a change of the transport manager, the carrier must designate a new transport manager who meets the requirements;
- carriers must have at their disposal at least one motor vehicle designated for the carriage of goods within six months of obtaining the licence. To prove it, carriers must have applied for and obtained a certified true copy of the licence;
- licence applicants must not have any non-staggered tax arrears that exceed the sum specified in Article 14(5) of the Taxation Act and the applicants must not have been declared bankrupt;
- in the licence application, applicants must confirm that they have the technical equipment and premises required for transport management in accordance with the requirements laid down in Article 5(1)(f) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009;
- carriers must organise the activity of their vehicle fleet in such a way as to ensure that vehicles, at the disposal of the undertaking and used in international carriage, return to one of the operational centres in that Member State at least within eight weeks after leaving it (Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009);
- licence applicants must pay a service fee to the Association of Estonian International Road Carriers (ERAA) for the issue of the licence;
- carriers must ensure that drivers engaging in the carriage of goods, and at the disposal of the carriers under an employment contract or a contract governed by the law of obligations, follow the requirements applicable to the carriage of goods;
- carriers must ensure that drivers engaging in the carriage of goods, and at the disposal of the carriers under an employment contract or a contract governed by the law of obligations, have completed the occupational or continuous training of drivers specified in Article 36(1) and (2) of the Road Transport Act and training compliant with the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), which is specified in Article 39(1) and (2) where such training is required, and hold a document certifying the completion of such training.
Cross-border operation
If an operator that has been established abroad wants to organise the carriage of goods for a charge in Estonia (unless they are cabotage operations specified in Art 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009), it has to establish an undertaking in Estonia and apply for a licence.
An operator that has been established and to which a licence has been issued in another Member State of the European Union, a contracting state of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation, is permitted to engage in the international carriage of goods into or from Estonia on the basis of a licence. If an operator that has been established and to which a licence has been issued in another Member State of the European Union, a contracting state of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation wants to engage in the carriage of goods between Estonia and a third country, it must fulfil the requirements of an international agreement, e.g., apply for a transport permit for carriage into/from a third country (section 22 of the AutoVS).
When carrying out cabotage operations in Estonia, an undertaking established in another Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area or in Switzerland must comply with the requirements for cabotage operations laid down in Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009. An operator established and licensed in Estonia (a carrier) may organise both the national and international carriage of goods on the basis of their licence. When carrying out cabotage operations in another Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area or in Switzerland, the carrier must comply with the requirements for cabotage operations laid down in Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009. In accordance with additional provisions regulating cabotage operations laid down in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which entered into force on 21 February 2022, after having carried out three cabotage operations on the territory of a Member State where international cargo was completely unloaded or after having carried out one cabotage operation on the territory of a Member State that was entered without cargo, it is not permitted to use the same motor vehicle or combination of vehicles to carry out another cabotage operation in that Member State within 4 days.
If an Estonian carrier wants to engage in the carriage of goods into/from a third country, it must fulfil the requirements of an international agreement concluded between Estonia and the third country, e.g., apply for a transport permit for carriage into/from a third country (section 22 of the AutoVS). As a rule, cabotage operations in a third country are prohibited for Estonian carriers and for third country carriers in Estonia pursuant to an international agreement.
Preparation and submission of application
The following documents and information must be submitted to obtain a licence:
- a filled in application;
- the name and personal identification code of the undertaking's Chief Executive or, in the absence of a personal identification code, date of birth and contact details (telephone number and e-mail address);
- a document certifying the designation of the person as a transport manager;
- a document proving the occupational competence of the transport manager;
- where the person has been designated as a transport manager on the basis of an employment contract or a contract governed by the law of obligations in accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009, the document certifying designation as a transport manager must include or be accompanied by information of the type, parties, date of entry into and period of validity of the contract.
The documents required for applying for a Community licence can be submitted to the ERAA:
- by entering the Register of Economic Activities (authentication is required);
- on paper
- to the Tallinn office of the ERAA (Narva mnt 91, Tallinn 10127) on business days from 09.00 to 13.00;
- to the Tartu branch at Sepa 26 on business days from 09.00 to 13.00;
- to the Pärnu branch at Lille 4 (AIDE ärikeskus), room 208 Tue. to Th. from 09.00 to 13.00;
- sent in the digitally signed format to the email address [email protected] or [email protected];
- by regular mail to the address of the ERAA at Narva mnt 91, 10127 Tallinn.
The Community licence can be obtained from ERAA Tallinn offices or from another ERAA office suitable to the applicant during work days from 09:00 to 13:00. The Community licence can be sent to the operator via mail if the applicant prefers so.
Payment of state fee
In order to apply for a Community licence, a service fee of 254.20 euros (205 euros + VAT) shall be paid.
Processing of application
The processing of an application shall take up to 30 calendar days. The operator shall be notified of the decision regarding the processing of the application for a licence via a non-priority letter or via e-mail. Upon the expiry of the time limit for deciding over an application for the licence, the licence is not deemed to be issued by default.
The Community licence shall be issued on paper to a legal representative of the applicant or to a person authorised by a legal representative.
If the licence application contains any deficiencies, the applicant shall be given a reasonable time limit for the elimination of the deficiencies. The term for making a decision regarding the application will be suspended until the removal of the deficiency.
A licence is issued for 10 years, unless the applicant requires it for a shorter period. At the end of the duration of a licence a new licence can be applied for if all the requirements imposed upon the applicant are met. The application for obtaining a new licence shall be submitted at least 30 days before the end of the duration of the existing licence.
Changing the conditions of the licence
If there have been any changes in the data contained in the documents submitted for applying for a licence (e.g., when the transport manager changes, any changes in the contact information), the issuer of the licence must be notified thereof in writing within 28 days.
Should any data entered on a Community licence change (for example, the name or address of the enterprise), a new Community licence needs to be applied for.
In the event of the loss, theft or destruction of the licence or change in the carrier’s address entered on that document, a new licence can be applied for, the validity term of which does not exceed the validity term of the licence being replaced. In order to apply for a replacement document of the licence, a service fee of 22.32 euros (18 euros + VAT) shall be paid to the ERAA. The fee can be paid in cash on the spot, with a debit card, or in advance by bank transfer.
Suspension of the validity of the licence by the operator and termination of economic activities
If an operator wishes to suspend the validity of a licence temporarily or revoke it or terminate economic activities, they need to submit a written application to the issuer of the licence.
Revocation of the licence
The validity of the licence may be temporarily suspended:
- On grounds provided for in Article 13(3) of Regulation (EC) No. 1071/2009, Article 12(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No. 1072/2009 and subsection 43 (1) of the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act.
- If the carrier, its transport manager or drivers who are engaging in or who have engaged in the carriage of goods while being at the carrier’s disposal under an employment contract or a contract governed by the law of obligations have more than once incurred a penalty for a serious infringement specified in Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No. 1071/2009 upon the carriage of goods for hire or reward or own-account carriage of goods, whereby the conviction data have not been deleted from the database under the Criminal Records Database Act or it becomes evident that, upon committing the infringement in a foreign state, the time limit for the deletion of the conviction data provided for in section 24 of the Criminal Records Database Act, which is calculated from the entry into force of a decision made in the foreign state, has not expired.
- If the carrier or its transport manager has, upon the carriage for hire or reward or own-account carriage incurred, based on section 279 of the Penal Code, a penalty for obstructing state supervision over compliance with the requirements for the working, driving, and rest time of a driver, and the conviction data of the infringement have not been deleted from the database under the Criminal Records Database Act.
- If the carrier has infringed the requirement provided for in subsection 5 (3) of the AutoVS and, according to a precept made regarding the infringement, has failed to eliminate the deficiencies within the prescribed time limit.
- If the carrier, its transport manager or drivers who are engaging in or who have engaged in the carriage of goods while being at the carrier’s disposal under an employment contract or a contract governed by the law of obligations have more than once incurred a penalty for an infringement of sections 261'6–261'9 of the Traffic Act upon the carriage of goods for hire or reward or own-account carriage of goods.
The licence may be revoked:
- On grounds provided for in Article 13(3) of Regulation (EC) No. 1071/2009, Article 12(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No. 1072/2009 and subsection 37 (2) of the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act.
- If the carrier has not eliminated the deficiencies pointed out in a precept made on the basis of the AutoVS or subsection 139 (4) of the Traffic Act within the prescribed time limit.
- If the carrier, its transport manager or drivers who are engaging in or who have engaged in the carriage of goods while being at the carrier’s disposal under an employment contract or a contract governed by the law of obligations have more than once incurred a penalty for a serious infringement specified in Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No. 1071/2009 upon the carriage of goods for hire or reward or own-account carriage of goods, whereby the conviction data have not been deleted from the database under the Criminal Records Database Act or it becomes evident that, upon committing the infringement in a foreign state, the time limit for deletion of the conviction data provided for in section 24 of the Criminal Records Database Act, which is calculated from the entry into force of a decision made in the foreign state, has not expired.
- If the carrier or its transport manager has more than once incurred upon the carriage of goods for hire or reward or own-account carriage of goods based on section 279 of the Penal Code a penalty for obstructing state supervision over compliance with the requirements for the working, driving and rest time of a driver, and the conviction data of the infringement have not been deleted from the database under the Criminal Records Database Act.
- If the carrier, its transport manager or drivers who are engaging in or who have engaged in the carriage of goods while being at the carrier’s disposal under an employment contract or a contract governed by the law of obligations have more than once incurred a penalty for an infringement of sections 261'6–261'9 of the Traffic Act upon the carriage of goods for hire or reward or own-account carriage of goods.
- If the holder of the licence has not picked up the licence within six months from the first date of validity of the licence or if it has not been possible to deliver the document to the holder.
- If, contrary to the requirement provided for in subsection 7 (10) of the AutoVS, there is no motor vehicle at the disposal of the carrier with regard to which the carrier had to apply for and obtain a copy of the licence within six months from the start of the period of validity of the licence.
Return of the licence
Where the validity of the licence has been temporarily suspended or the licence has been revoked, the document must be returned to the issuer within 5 business days following the date of delivery of the decision to suspend or revoke the document. The return requirement does not apply where the licence has been revoked due to its loss, theft or destruction.
Supervision
The Association of Estonian International Road Carriers (ERAA) and the Ministry of Climate monitor the compliance of holders of the licence with the conditions applicable to them during the validity of the licence.
The Police and Border Guard Board and the Tax and Customs Board verify whether road users have a licence. The Labour Inspectorate verifies the existence of the licence at undertakings.
Contact details
Substantive information
Elo Tambur, Association of Estonian International Road Carriers (ERAA), tel: +372 606 2051, e-mail:[email protected]
Eda Rembel, tel: +372 6 256 427, Ministry of Climate, e-mail: [email protected]
Registry information and technical questions
Register of Economic Activities, tel: +372 668 7080, [email protected]