1994R3298 — EN — 26.09.2000 — 003.001

This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents

Amended by:

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 3298/94

of 21 December 1994

laying down detailed measures concerning the system of rights of transit (ecopoints) for heavy goods vehicles transiting through Austria

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THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Act of Accession of Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 11 (6) and Annex 4 of Protocol No 9 thereto, Whereas the abovementioned Protocol provided for a special regime concerning the transit of heavy goods vehicles through Austrian territory based on a system of Rights of Transit (Ecopoints); whereas such a regime shall replace, from the date of Accession, the system of distribution of ecopoints established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3637/92 of 27 November 1992 ( 1 ); Whereas the Commission should adopt detailed implementing measures concerning the procedures relating to the ecopoint system and the distribution of ecopoints; Whereas, according to the second subparagraph of Article 11 (6) of Protocol No 9, such measures should ensure that the actual situation for the present Member States resulting from the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3637/92 and of the Administrative Arrangement, signed on 23 December 1992 ( 2 ), setting the date of entry into force and the procedures for the introduction of the ecopoint system referred to in the Transit Agreement, is maintained; Whereas the Commission should adopt detailed measures concerning outstanding technical questions relating to the ecopoint system as foreseen in Joint Declaration No 18; Whereas Annex 4 of Protocol No 9 shall be adapted to take account of transit journeys by heavy goods vehicles registered in Finland and Sweden, based on indicative values for the respective countries calculated on the basis of the number of transit journeys in 1991 and a standard value of NOx emission of 15,8 grammes NOx/kw; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee set up by Article 16 of Protocol No 9, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

I.

Administrative provisions

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Article 1

1. The driver of a heavy goods vehicle on the territory of Austria shall carry, and shall make available for inspection at the request of the supervisory authorities, either:

(a) a duly completed standard form or an Austrian certificate confirming payment of the ecopoints for the journey in question, modelled on Annex A, hereinafter referred to as ‘the ecocard’; or

(b) an electronic device, fitted to the motor vehicle which enables the automatic debiting of ecopoints, hereinafter referred to as ‘the ecotag’; or

(c) appropriate documentation, as defined in Article 13, to demonstrate that an ecopoint-free transit journey, as defined in Annex C, is being made; or

(d) appropriate documentation to demonstrate that a non-transit journey is being made, and when the vehicle is fitted with an ecotag, the ecotag is set for this purpose.

The competent Austrian authorities shall issue the ecocard against payment of the cost of production and distribution of ecopoints and ecocards, and shall install the necessary infrastructure at appropriate places to read the ecotags.

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1a. Transit journeys made in the circumstances listed in Annex C or under ECMT authorisations that are valid on Austrian territory shall be exempt from the ecopoints system.

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2. Ecotags shall be manufactured, programmed and installed in accordance with the general technical specifications laid down in Annex F. The competent authorities in each Member State are authorized to approve, program and install the ecotags.

The ecotag shall be programmed to contain information on the country of registration and the NOx value of the motor vehicle, as stated in the conformity of production (COP) document, as defined in paragraph 4.

3. The ecotag shall be affixed to the windscreen of the motor vehicle. It shall be positioned in accordance with Annex G. It shall be non-transferable.

4. The driver of a heavy goods vehicle registered on or after 1 October 1990 shall also carry, and produce upon request, a COP document, modelled on Annex B, as evidence of the NOx emissions of that vehicle. Heavy goods vehicles first registered before 1 October 1990 or in respect of which no document is produced shall be assumed to have a COP value of 15,8 g/kWh.

5. Member States shall notify the Commission of the national authorities authorized to issued the documents and ecotags referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4.

Article 2

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1. Unless a vehicle is using an ecotag, the requisite number of ecopoints shall be affixed to the ecocard and cancelled. The ecocard shall be cancelled by any one of the following methods:

(a) stamping the ecocard in an ecocard stamping machine;

(b) having the ecocard stamped by the Austrian border control authorities upon entering Austria;

(c) having the ecocard stamped and dated by the national authorities of the haulier before entering Austrian territory;

(d) having the ecocard stamped at an office where the initialisation of ecotags is performed.

Austrian frontier stations that are equipped with an ecocard stamping machine are listed in Annex H.

For statistical purposes page 1 of the completed ecocard shall either be collected by the Austrian authorities or subsequently returned by the competent authorities within three months of the completion of the journey to the Austrian authorities. The statistics thus collected shall assist the Commission in making any proposal for the distribution the reserve of ecopoints.

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2. If the vehicle fitted with an ecotag, upon confirmation of it undertaking a transit journey requiring ecopoints, a number of ecopoints, equivalent to the NOx emission information stored in the ecotag of the vehicle, shall be deducted from the total of ecopoints allocated to the Member State in which the vehicle is registered. This shall be done by infrastructure provided and operated by the Austrian authorities.

For vehicles fitted with ecotags that are making bilateral journeys they must set the ecotag to demonstrate that a non-transit journey is being made prior to entering Austrian territory.

3. In the case where an ecocard is used and where a tractor unit is switched during a transit journey, the proof of payment on entry shall remain valid and be retained. Where the COP value of the new tractor unit exceeds that indicated on the form, additional ecopoints, affixed to a new card, shall be cancelled on leaving the country.

4. For journeys requiring ecopoints, the ecocard or the ecotag shall replace all Austrian forms hitherto used for transport statistics.

5. The competent authorities of the Member States shall regularly notify the Commission of the number of points used on ecocards. The originals, or copies, of forms bearing cancelled ecopoints shall, where necessary, be made available to individual national authorities or to the Commission.

Alternatively, if the vehicle is fitted with an ecotag, the Austrian authorities shall make available the necessary information to a designated authority in the Member State where the vehicle is registered within 48 hours that a transit journey has been made. Such information shall also be made available to the Commission.

6. Paragraphs 1 to 5 shall apply without prejudice to Article 14a.

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Article 3

1. Until 31 December 1996 Austrian proof of payment for ecopoints for Italy or Germany shall be recognized as replacing the authorizations previously used in Austria, Germany and Italy. In Italy such proof of payment shall replace a bilateral half-ticket for a single journey and in Germany a bilateral authorization for a return journey.

For Austrian-registered heavy goods vehicles leaving Italy, a duly-completed copy of the form referred to in Article 1 (1), bearing the requisite number of ecopoints for Italy, shall replace the authorization provided for.

2. Continuous journeys which involve crossing the Austrian frontier once by train, whether by conventional rail transport or in a combined transport operation, and crossing the frontier by road before or after crossing by rail, shall be regarded not as transit of goods by road through Austria within the meaning of Article 1 (e) of Protocol No 9, but as bilateral journeys within the meaning of Article 1 (g) thereof.

3. ►M1 Notwithstanding paragraph 2, continuous transit journeys through Austria using the following rail terminals shall be deemed to constitute journeys: ◄

Fürnitz/Villach Süd, Sillian, Innsbruck/Hall, Brennersee, Graz.

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Article 4

Ecopoints shall be valid between 1 January of the year for which they are attributed and 31 January of the following year.

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Article 5

1. Infringements of Protocol No 9 or of this Regulation by a driver of a heavy goods vehicle or an undertaking shall be prosecuted in accordance with the national legislation in force. ►M1 In the case of repeated infringements of this Regulation, Article 8 (3) and Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 881/92 ( 3 ) shall apply. ◄

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2. The Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States shall, each within the limits of their jurisdiction, provide each other with administrative assistance in investigating and prosecuting infringements of Protocol 9 or this Regulation, in particular by ensuring that the ecocards and ecotags are correctly used and handled.

3. Controls may be carried out at a point other than the border, at the discretion of the Member State, with due regard to the principle of non-discrimination.

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4. The Austrian supervisory authorities may, having due regard to the principle of proportionality, take appropriate measures if a vehicle is fitted with an ecotag and at least one of the following situations occur:

(a) the vehicle or the operator of the vehicle has repeatedly committed infringements;

(b) there are insufficient ecopoints remaining in the allocation of the country in which the vehicle is registered;

(c) the ecotag has been tampered with or has been changed by a party other than those authorized in Article 1 (2);

(d) the Member State has not allocated sufficient ecopoints for the vehicle to make a transit journey;

(e) the vehicle does not have appropriate documentation in accordance with points (c) or (d) of Article 1 (1) to justify why the ecotag has been set to demonstrate that a non-transit journey is being made on Austrian territory;

(f) when the ecotag specified in Annex F is not loaded with sufficient ecopoints to make a transit journey.

5. The Austrian supervisory authorities may, having due regard to the principle of proportionality, take appropriate measures if a vehicle is not fitted with an ecotag and at least one of the following situations occur:

(a) an ecocard is not presented to the supervisory authorities in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation;

(b) an ecocard is presented which is incomplete or incorrect, or where the ecopoints are not correctly affixed;

(c) the vehicle does not possess, the appropriate documentation to justify that it does not need ecopoints;

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(d) or the ecocard has not been cancelled in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 2(1).

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II.

Distribution of ecopoints

Article 6

1. A number of ecopoints equal to 96,66 % of the total available shall be distributed between the Member States according to the distribution scale shown in Annex D.

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2. The printed ecopoints which are intended for affixing to ecocards shall be made available each year to Member States in two instalments, the first before 1 October of the preceding year, and the second before 1 March of the relevant year.

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In the circumstances provided for in Article 11(2)(c) of Protocol No 9, the number of ecopoints shall be reduced. The reduction shall be calculated using the method laid down in point 3 of Annex 5 to Protocol No 9. The reduction of ecopoints thus calculated shall be spread over several years.

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3. The electronic ecopoints shall be made available each year to Member States in three equal instalments: the first instalment before 1 November of the preceding year, the second instalment before 1 March and the third instalment before 1 July.

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Article 7

1. The competent authorities of the Member States shall allocate their available ecopoints to the operators concerned, established on their territory.

2. Each year the competent authorities of the Member States shall indicate and return to the Commission by 15 October at the latest any ecopoints which, on the basis of available data and the estimates for traffic for the final months of the year, are not likely to be used before the end of the year.

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3. Each year the Commission shall note the number of ecopoints allocated to each Member State that, on 1 February, were valid for use the previous year and remain unused and were not returned to the Commission in accordance with paragraph 2. If the quantity not used is greater than 2 % of a Member State's allocation of ecopoints, the Commission shall subtract an equivalent quantity of ecopoints from the Member State's allocation for that year. This quantity of ecopoints shall be added to the EU Reserve for that year.

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Article 8

1. The ecopoints which are not distributed among Member States, in accordance with Article 6, as well as those which have been returned to the Commission, in accordance with Article 7, shall constitute a Community reserve.

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2. The ecopoints of the Community reserve shall be allocated by the Commission to the Member States in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 16 of Protocol 9, at least one month before the end of the year.

The reallocation shall be weighted according to the following criteria, as detailed in Annex E:

— the special position of Greece and Italy,

— the effect of German reunification,

— the promotion of alternative transport modes through Austria, in particular the ‘Rollende Landstraße’,

— the number of ecopoints allocated to Member States, actually used by them,

— the average NOx figures for transiting vehicles from Member States,

— unforeseen occurrences.

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III.

Adaptation of ecopoint figures

Article 9

Annex 4 of Protocol No 9 ►M1 ————— ◄ shall be adapted as follows:



Year Percentage of ecopoints Ecopoints for EU-15 1991 base 100 % 23 556 220 1995 71,7 % 16 889 810 1996 65,0 % 15 311 543 1997 59,1 % 13 921 726 1998 54,8 % 12 908 809 1999 51,9 % 12 225 678 2000 49,8 % 11 730 998 2001 48,5 % 11 424 767 2002 44,8 % 10 533 187 2003 40,0 % 9 422 488

IV.

Technical questions concerning the ecopoint system

Article 10

►M1 For the purposes of ◄ Article 11 (2) (b) and Annex 5 (1) of Protocol No 9, in the case of vehicles registered before 1 October 1990 which have had a change of engine since this date, the COP value of the new engine shall apply. In such a case the certificate issued by the appropriate authority shall mention the change of engine and give details of the new COP value for NOx emissions.

Article 11

Where a traction unit registered in a Member State other than Austria is replaced by an Austrian-registered traction unit during a transit journey across Austria to Italy, a permit for bilateral traffic between Austria and Italy shall, until 31 December 1996, be required in addition to the proof of payment for the journey by the first traction unit.

Article 12

A transit journey shall be exempt from paying ecopoints if the following three conditions are met:

(i) the sole purpose of the journey is to deliver a brand-new vehicle, or vehicle combination, from the manufacturers to a destination in another State;

(ii) no goods are transported on the journey;

(iii) the vehicle or vehicle combination has appropriate international registration papers and export licence plates.

Article 13

A transit journey shall be exempt from paying ecopoints if it is the empty leg of a journey exempt from ecopoints as listed in Annex C and the vehicle carries suitable documentation to demonstrate this. Such suitable documentation shall be either:

— a bill of lading, or

— a completed ecocard to which no ecopoints have been attached, or

— a completed ecocard with ecopoints, which are subsequently reinstated.

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Article 14

A journey shall be deemed to be exempt from the payment of ecopoints if the vehicle either sets down or picks up its complete load in Austria and the vehicle carries suitable documentation to demonstrate this, irrespective of the route taken by the vehicle to enter and exist Austria.

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Article 14a

For a transitional period expiring on 31 December 1997, the use of either ecocards or ecotags shall be permitted for the administration of transit traffic.

From 1 January 1998 the Commission shall allow each Member State to use annually ecocards up to a maximum of 0,6 % of the total number of ecopoints for the Member States as laid down in Article 9. Member States shall notify the Commission by 1 August of each year at the latest of the number of ecopoints they wish to have for use on ecocards the following year. These ecopoints shall be made available by the Commission in a single portion before 1 December. The ecocards shall be made available in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 1 (1).

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Article 14b

The Commission shall monitor the activities undertaken by Austria and other Member States to improve the level of service provided in combined transport across the Alps. A first report shall be produced by the Commission in 2001.

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V.

Final provisions

Article 15

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995, subject to the entry into force of the Act of Accession of Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANEXO ABILAG AANHANG AΠΑΡΑΡΤΗΜΑ ΑANNEX AANNEXE AALLEGATO ABIJLAGE AANEXO A

ANEXO BBILAG BANHANG BΠΑΡΑΡΤΗΜΑ ΒANNEX BANNEXE BALLEGATO BBIJLAGE BANEXO B

ANNEX C

JOURNEYS FOR WHICH NO ECOPOINTS ARE REQUIRED

1. The occasional transport of goods to and from airports when flights are diverted.

2. The carriage of baggage in trailers attached to passenger vehicles, and the carriage of baggage to and from airports by vehicles of all kinds.

3. The carriage of postal consignments.

4. The carriage of damaged vehicles or vehicles in need of repair.

5. The carriage of waste and sewage.

6. The carriage of animal carcases for disposal.

7. The carriage of bees and fish spawn.

8. The transport of corpses.

9. The carriage of works of art for exhibition or commercial purposes.

10. The occasional carriage of goods for advertising or educational purposes.

11. The carriage of goods by removal firms possessing the appropriate personnel and equipment.

12. The carriage of equipment, accessories and animals to and from theatrical, musical, cinema, sporting or circus events, exhibitions or fairs, or to and from radio, cinema or television recordings.

13. The carriage of spare parts for ships and aircraft.

14. The empty journey of a goods vehicle sent to replace a vehicle that has broken down in transit and the continuation of the journey by the replacement vehicle using the authorization issued for the first vehicle.

15. The carriage of emergency medical aid (particularly in the case of natural disasters).

16. The carriage of valuable goods (e.g. precious metals) in special vehicles escorted by the police or another security service.

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ANNEX D



DISTRIBUTION OF ECOPOINTS 2000-2003 Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 I 3 789 047 3 688 365 3 401 686 3 076 080 D 3 548 525 3 453 294 3 182 073 2 898 150 A 1 519 487 1 476 911 1 355 433 1 274 152 NL 934 373 909 981 840 560 750 500 GR 455 749 443 800 409 792 366 994 DK 306 414 298 415 275 649 246 115 B 240 765 234 349 216 080 195 793 UK 64 309 62 630 57 852 51 654 S 57 042 55 553 51 315 45 817 F 37 829 36 841 34 031 30 385 LUX 37 829 36 841 34 031 30 385 SF 34 986 34 072 31 473 28 101 E 9 079 8 842 8 167 7 292 IRL 7 566 7 368 6 806 6 077 P 3 026 2 947 2 722 2 431 RESERVE EU 382 105 371 688 342 547 311 605 TOTAL 11 428 150 11 121 897 10 250 317 9 321 531

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ANNEX E

ECOPOINT REDISTRIBUTION CRITERIA

The special position of Greece and Italy

Of the Community reserve of 3,34 % of the total number of ecopoints, a proportion of ecopoints equivalent to 4 874 of the units set out in Annex D shall be allocated to Italy and 576 of the units set out in Annex D to Greece, on a priority basis.

Furthermore, all necessary efforts shall be made to ensure that the share of ecopoints allocated to Greece takes sufficient account of Greek needs.

The effect of German reunification

In addition, a proportion of ecopoints equivalent to 6 444 if the units set out in Annex D shall be allocated to Germany from the Community reserve.

The redistribution of ecopoints returned by Austria

All Austrian ecopoints returned to the Commission for redistribution shall be redistributed to Member States requesting additional ecopoints in proportion to the use made by heavy-goods vehicles registered in Member States of the ‘Rollende Landstraße’ in Austria.

Upon the coming into force of the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the carriage of goods and passengers by rail and road, the distribution of ecopoints returned by Austria shall be as follows:

of the Austrian ecopoints returned for distribution to the Commission, 30 % shall be allocated to Greece and 30 % to Italy, on a priority basis. The remaining ecopoints returned by Austria shall be distributed to Member States asking for additional ecopoints in proportion to the use made by heavy-goods vehicles registered in Member States of the ‘Rollende Landstraße’ in Austria.

The number of ecopoints allocated to Member States, the number actually used by them and the average NOx figures for transiting vehicles from Member States

The remaining ecopoints shall be distributed to Member States requesting additional ecopoints proportional to a coefficient that is defined for each Member State as follows:

— number of ecopoints deemed necessary, based on extrapolation of the most recent statistics from Austria,

— multiplied by the proportion of ecopoints allocated to a member State that were actually used by that Member State the previous year,

— multiplied by the most recent average NOx figures for transit vehicles from the Member State, as a percentage of the target figure for the year.

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ANNEX F

GENERAL TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ECOTAG

Short-range communication beacon — vehicle

(Pre)standards and technical reports relevant to DSRC

The following requirements provided by CEN/TC 278 with regard to short-range communication between the vehicles and the roadside infrastructure are to be met:

(a) prENV278/9/62 ‘DSRC Physical Layer using Microwave at 5,8 GHz’;

(b) prENV278/9/64 ‘DSRC Data Link Layer’;

(c) prENV278/9/65 ‘DSRC Application Layer’.

Type test

The supplier of the ecotag must provide type-test certificates for the appliances from an accredited test institute confirming compliance with all the limit values specified in the current I-ETS 300674.

Operating conditions

The ecotag for the automatic ecopoint system must guarantee the required functionality under the following operating conditions:

— ambient conditions: ambient temperature from —25°C to +70°C,

— weather conditions: all eventualities,

— traffic: several lanes, moving,

— speed range: From ‘stop-and-go’ to 120 km/h.

The above operating conditions are minimum requirements pending the adoption of (pre)standards relevant to DSRC.

The ecotag may react only to microwave signals specific to its own applications.

Ecotag

Identification

Each ecotag must have a unique identification number. In addition to the number of digits necessary to make it distinguishable, this number must also contain a check sum for integrity verification.

Installation

The ecotag should be designed for installation behind the windscreen of the lorry or traction unit. It shall be installed so as to be completely non-detachable from the vehicle.

Transit declaration

The ecotag must have an input facility for declaring a journey exempt from the payment of ecopoints.

This facility must be clearly visible on the ecotag for control purposes; alternatively, it must be possible to set the ecotag at a defined initial position. At all events, it must be ensured that only the status at the time of entry is taken into account for evaluation in the system.

External marking

Every ecotag must also be clearly identifiable on visual inspection. To this end, the abovementioned unique identification number must be indelibly applied to the surface of the appliance.

A non-detachable, indelible marking to the ecotag in the form of prepared stickers shall be affixed to the ecotag. This marking must show the number of ecopoints for the individual vehicle (‘5’, ‘6’, ... ‘16’).

These special stickers must be tamper-proof; they must have mechanical strength and be light- and temperature-resistant. They must have a high adhesive strength and any attempt to remove them must result in their destruction.

Integrity

The casing must be constructed in such way that any manipulation of the internal components is excluded and any interference can subsequently be detected.

Memory

The ecotag must have sufficient memory capacity for the following data:

— identification number,

— vehicle data — — COP value,

— transaction data — — identification of the border post, — date/time, — status of journey declaration, — blocking (blacklisting) information,

— status data — — manipulation, — battery status, — status of latest communication.

There must be a reserve of memory of at least 30 %.

ANNEX G

INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ECOTAG

The ecotag shall be located on the interior side of the windowscreen within the marked area (illustrated above) where the dimensions are as follows:

x = 100 cm

y = 80 cm.

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ANNEX H

Austrian border stations equipped with an ecocard-stamping machine

Achenkirch

Arnoldstein

Braunau

Brennerpaß

Ehrwald

Hangendenstein

Hörbranz

Kiefersfelden

Musau

Nauders

Neuhaus

Pinswang

Reit im Winkel

Saalbrücke

Scharnitz

Schleching

Sillian

Springen

Suben

Steinpaß

Walserberg

Wegscheid

( 1 ) OJ No L 373, 21. 12. 1992, p. 1.

( 2 ) OJ No L 373, 21. 12. 1992, p. 1.

( 3 ) OJ No L 95, 9. 4. 1992, p. 1.