23 
3.4.3. What is missing in the Transport Protocol? 
Like every international treaty, the Transport Protocol is a compromise of what the 
parties were able to agree on in the political context at the time of the signature of the 
treaty. However, there are some obvious lacunas in the Transport Protocol which are 
worth mentioning 74 . 
First, the Transport Protocol does not contain any provision on how to solve conflicts 
with national law of the contracting States or Community law. During the negotiations 
of the Transport Protocol in Autumn 1999, the Commission made a proposal for a 
provision dealing with the potential legal conflicts 75 . In the final version of the Protocol, 
no traces are left of such an Article. It will be shown later ' 6 that this may be source of 
legal uncertainty. 
Second, the Transport Protocol does not refer to other relevant international agreements, 
such as, for example, the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation 
between Territorial Communities or Authorities (Madrid Convention) 77 , elaborated and 
signed in 1980 under the auspices of the European Council. 
Third, there are no measures concerning the problems of tunnels. Especially since the 
tunnel fires in the Mont Blanc tunnel (March 1999), in the Tauem tunnel (May 1999) 
and in the Gotthard tunnel (October 2001), managing the risks involved with 
transporting dangerous goods through tunnels has been constant matter of discussion 78 . 
74 See as well J. Sohnle, "El Protocolo sobre la aplicación del Convenio de los Alpes en el ámbito de los 
transportes y el Derecho Comunitario", (2003) 216 Noticias de Ia Unión Europea 107. at 119. 
75 See supra, note 51. 
76 See infra, 4.1.2. Hierarchical conflicts as long as the Community does not ratify, p.27. 
77 See supra, note 74. p. 119. 
78 For further information, see Safety in Tunnels. Transport of Dangerous Goods Through Road Tunnels, 
OECD. Paris 2001.