COMMON POSITION (EC) No 14/1999 adopted by the Council on 18 January 1999 with a view to adopting Council Directive 1999/.../EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures (1999/C 58/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 75(1) and 99 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas the elimination of distortions of competition between transport undertakings in the Member States calls for both the harmonisation of levy systems and the establishment of fair mechanisms for charging infrastructure costs to hauliers;

(2) Whereas these objectives can be achieved only in stages;

(3) Whereas a degree of harmonisation of levy systems has already been achieved through the adoption of Council Directive 92/81/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the harmonisation of structure of excise duties on mineral oils (4) and Council Directive 92/82/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the approximation of the rates of excise duties on mineral oils (5);

(4) Whereas the Court of Justice of the European Communities, by its judgement of 5 July 1995 in Case C-21/94 Parliament v. Council (6), annulled Council Directive 93/89/EEC of 25 October 1993 on the application by Member States of taxes on certain vehicles used for the carriage of goods by road and tolls and user charges for the use of certain infrastructures (7), while preserving the effects of that Directive until the Council had adopted a new Directive; whereas, therefore, Directive 93/89/EEC is replaced by this Directive;

(5) Whereas under present circumstances the adjustment of national levy systems should be confined to commercial vehicles of more than a certain gross laden weight;

(6) Whereas for this purpose minimum rates should be set for the vehicle taxes currently applied by the Member States or any which might succeed them;

(7) Whereas the use of road friendly and less polluting vehicles should be encouraged through differentiation of taxes or charges, provided that such differentiation does not interfere with the functioning of the internal market;

(8) Whereas it is appropriate that certain Member States may be granted a period of derogation from the minimum rates to facilitate adaptation to the levels required by this Directive;

(9) Whereas certain local domestic transport operations with little impact on the Community transport market are at present subject to reduced rates of vehicle tax; whereas, in order to ensure smooth transition, Member States should be authorised to lay down temporary derogations from minimum rates;

(10) Whereas Member States should be permitted to apply reduced rates or exemptions of vehicle taxes in the case of vehicles whose use is not liable to affect the Community transport market;

(11) Whereas, in order to make allowance for certain special situations, a procedure should be laid down whereby Member States may be permitted to maintain further exemptions or reductions;

(12) Whereas existing distortions of competition cannot be eliminated solely by harmonising taxes or fuel excise duties; whereas, however, until technically and economically more appropriate forms of levy are in place, such distortions may be attenuated by the possibility of retaining or introducing tolls and/or user charges for the use of motorways; whereas in addition Member States should be allowed to levy charges for the use of bridges, tunnels and mountain passes;

(13) Whereas, in view of the specific conditions on certain Alpine routes, it may be appropriate for a Member State to disapply a user system from a well-defined section of its motorway network in order to permit application of an infrastructure-related charge;

(14) Whereas tolls and user charges should neither be discriminatory nor entail excessive formalities or create obstacles at internal borders; whereas, therefore, adequate measures should be taken to permit the payment of tolls and user charges at any time and with different means of payment;

(15) Whereas the rates of user charges should be based on the duration of the use made of the infrastructure in question and be differentiated in relation to the costs caused by the road vehicles;

(16) Whereas reduced rates of user charges should be applied temporarily for vehicles registered in Greece to take account of difficulties due to its geopolitical position;

(17) Whereas, in order to ensure that user charges and tolls are applied homogeneously, certain rules for determining their manner of application should be laid down, such as the characteristics of the infrastructure to which they are applicable, the maximum levels of certain rates and other general conditions that will have to be complied with; whereas weighted average tolls should be related to the costs of construction, operating and developing the infrastructure network concerned;

(18) Whereas Member States should be able to attribute to environmental protection and the balanced development of transport networks a percentage of the amount of the user charge or of the toll, provided that this amount is calculated in accordance with the provisions of this Directive;

(19) Whereas the amounts in this Directive expressed in the national currency units of Member States adopting the euro will be fixed on 1 January 1999 when the value of the euro will be determined in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2866/98 of 31 December 1998 on the conversion rates between the euro and the currencies of the Member States adopting the euro (8); whereas it is appropriate that Member States not adopting the euro should review annually the amounts in this Directive in national currencies and adjust where appropriate to account for changes in the exchange rates; whereas annual adjustments in national currencies may not be compulsory if the change resulting from the application of the new exchange rates is below a certain percentage level;

(20) Whereas the principle of territoriality should be applied; whereas two or more Member States may cooperate for the purpose of introducing a common system of user charges, subject to compliance with some additional conditions;

(21) Whereas, in accordance with the principle of proportionality, this Directive limits itself to the minimum required for the attainment of the objectives under the third paragraph of Article 3b of the Treaty;

(22) Whereas a strict timetable should be set for reviewing the provisions of this Directive and considering adjustments to them, if necessary, with the aim of developing a more territorial levy system,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

CHAPTER I General provisions

Article 1

This Directive applies to vehicle taxes, tolls and user charges imposed on vehicles as defined in Article 2.

This Directive shall not affect vehicles carrying out transport operations exclusively in the non-European territories of the Member States.

It shall also not affect vehicles registered in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, the Azores or Madeira and carrying out transport operations exclusively in those territories or between those territories and, respectively, mainland Spain and mainland Portugal.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive:

(a) 'motorway` means a road specially designed and built for motor traffic, which does not serve properties bordering on it, and which:

(i) is provided, except at special points or temporarily, with separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic, separated from each other either by a dividing strip not intended for traffic or, exceptionally, by other means;

(ii) does not cross at grade with any road, railway or tramway track, or footpath;

(iii) is specifically designated as a motorway;

(b) 'toll` means payment of a specified amount for a vehicle travelling the distance between two points on the infrastructures referred to in Article 7(2); the amount shall be based on the distance travelled and the type of the vehicle;

(c) 'user charge` means payment of a specified amount conferring the right for a vehicle to use for a given period the infrastructures referred to in Article 7(2);

(d) 'vehicle` means a motor vehicle or articulated vehicle combination intended exclusively for the carriage of goods by road and having a maximum permissible gross laden weight of not less than 12 tonnes;

(e) 'Euro I vehicle` means a vehicle having the characteristics set out in line A of the table in section 8.3.1.1 of Annex I to Council Directive 88/77/EEC of 3 December 1987 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from diesel engines for use in vehicles (9);

(f) 'Euro II vehicle` means a vehicle having the characteristics set out in line B of the table in section 8.3.1.1 of Annex I to Directive 88/77/EEC.

CHAPTER II Vehicle taxation

Article 3

1. The vehicle taxes referred to in Article 1 are as follows:

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2. Member States which replace any tax listed in paragraph 1 with another tax of the same kind shall notify the Commission, which shall make the necessary amendments.

Article 4

Procedures for levying and collecting the taxes referred to in Article 3 shall be determined by each Member State.

Article 5

As regards vehicles registered in the Member States, the taxes referred to in Article 3 shall be charged solely by the Member State of registration.

Article 6

1. Whatever the structure of the taxes referred to in Article 3, Member States shall set the rates so as to ensure that the tax rate for each vehicle category or subcategory referred to in Annex I is not lower than the minimum laid down in that Annex.

Until two years after entry into force of the Directive, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain shall be authorised to apply rates that are lower than, but not less than 65 %, of the minimum rates laid down in Annex I.

2. Member States may apply reduced rates or exemptions for:

(a) vehicles used for national or civil defense purposes, by fire and other emergency services and by the police, and vehicles used for road maintenance;

(b) vehicles which travel only occasionally on the public roads of the Member State of registration and are used by natural or legal persons whose main occupation is not the carriage of goods, provided that the transport operations carried out by these vehicles do not cause distortions of competition, and subject to the Commission's agreement.

3 (a) The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal may authorise a Member State to maintain further exemptions from or reductions in taxes on vehicles on the grounds of specific policies of a socio-economic nature or linked to that State's infrastructure. Such exemptions or reductions may apply only to vehicles registered in that Member State which carry out transport operations exclusively inside a well-defined part of its territory.

(b) Any Member State wishing to maintain such an exemption or reduction shall inform the Commission thereof and shall also forward to it all necessary information. The Commission shall inform the other Member States of the proposed exemption or reduction within one month.

The Council shall be deemed to have authorised maintenance of the proposed exemption or reduction if, within a period of two months from the date on which the other Member States were informed in accordance with the first subparagraph, neither the Commission nor any Member State has requested that the matter be examined by the Council.

4. Without prejudice to the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 and to paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article or to Article 6 of Council Directive 92/106/EEC of 7 December 1992 on the establishment of common rules for certain types of combined transport of goods between Member States (10), Member States may not grant any exemption from, or any reduction in, the taxes referred to in Article 3 which would render the chargeable tax lower than the minimum referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

CHAPTER III Tolls and user charges

Article 7

1. Member States may maintain or introduce tolls and/or user charges under the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 to 10.

2 (a) Tolls and user charges shall be imposed only on users of motorways or other multi-lane roads with characteristics similar to motorways, or users of bridges, tunnels and mountain passes.

However, in a Member State where no motorways or dual carriageways with similar characteristics exists, tolls and user charges may be imposed in that State on users of this highest category of road from the technical point of view.

(b) Following consultations with the Commission, and in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Council Decision of 21 March 1962 instituting a procedure for prior examination and consultation in respect of certain laws, regulations and administrative provisions concerning transport proposed in Member States (11):

(i) tolls and user charges may also be imposed on users of other sections of the primary road network, particularly:

- where there are safety reasons for doing so,

- in a Member State where no coherent network of motorways or dual carriageways with similar characteristics exists in the major part of the State, in that part of the country, but only on roads used for international and interregional heavy goods transport, provided that the traffic demand and population density do not economically justify the construction of motorways or of dual carriageway roads with similar characteristics;

(ii) special arrangements for border areas may be made by the Member States concerned;

(iii) Austria may exempt from the Austrian user charge the stretch of motorway between Kufstein and Brenner.

3. Tolls and user charges may not both be imposed at the same time for the use of a single road section. However, Member States may also impose tolls on networks where user charges are levied, for the use of bridges, tunnels, and mountain passes.

4. Tolls and user charges may not discriminate, directly or indirectly, on the grounds of the nationality of the haulier or the origin or destination of the vehicle.

5. Tolls and user charges shall be applied and collected and their payment monitored in such a way as to cause as little hindrance as possible to the free flows of traffic and avoid any mandatory controls or checks at the Community's internal borders. To this end, Member States shall cooperate in establishing methods for enabling hauliers to pay user charges 24 hours a day, at least at the major sales outlets, using all common means of payment, inside and outside the Member States in which they are applied. Member States shall provide adequate facilities at the points of payment for tolls and user charges so as to maintain normal road-safety standards.

6. A Member State may provide that vehicles registered in that Member State shall be subject to user charges for the use of the whole road network in its territory.

7. User charges, including administrative costs, for all vehicle categories shall be set by the Member State concerned at a level which is not higher than the maximum rates laid down in Annex II.

On 1 July 2002 and every second year thereafter these maximum rates shall be reviewed. When necessary, the Commission shall make proposals for appropriate adjustments and the Council shall act on them, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Treaty.

Member States applying a user charge shall, until two years after entry into force of this Directive, apply a 50 % reduction in the rates of user charges for vehicles registered in Greece beacause of its geopolitical position. The Commission may decide to authorise an extension of this reduction by these Member States from year to year.

8. User-charge rates shall be in proportion to the duration of the use made of the infrastructure.

A Member State may apply only annual rates for vehicles registered in that State.

9. The weighted average tolls shall be related to the costs of constructing, operating and developing the infrastructure network concerned.

10. Without prejudice to the weighted average tolls referred to in paragraph 9, Member States may vary the rates at which tolls are charged according to:

(a) vehicle emission classes, provided that no toll is more than 50 % above the toll charged for equivalent vehicles meeting the strictest emission standards;

(b) time of day, provided that no toll is more than 100 % above the toll charged during the cheapest period of the day.

Any variation in tolls charged with respect to vehicle emission classes or time of day shall be proportionate to the objective pursued.

Article 8

1. Two or more Member States may cooperate in introducing a common system for user charges applicable to their territories as a whole. In that case, those Member States shall ensure that the Commission is closely involved therein and in the system's subsequent operation and possible amendment.

2. A common system shall be subject to the following conditions in addition to those in Article 7:

(a) the common user-charge rates shall be set by the participating Member States at levels that are not higher than the maximum rates referred to in Article 7(7);

(b) payment of the common user charge shall give access to the network as defined by the participating Member States in accordance with Article 7(2);

(c) other Member States may join the common system;

(d) a scale shall be worked out by the participating Member States whereby each of them shall receive a fair share of the revenues accruing from the user charge.

CHAPTER IV Final provisions

Article 9

1. This Directive shall not prevent the application by Member States of:

(a) specific taxes or charges:

- levied upon registration of the vehicle, or

- imposed on vehicles or loads of abnormal weights or dimensions;

(b) parking fees and specific urban traffic charges;

(c) regulatory charges specifically designed to combat time- and place-related traffic congestion.

2. Neither shall this Directive prevent the Member States from attributing, to environmental protection and the balanced development of transport networks, a percentage of the amount of the user charge or of the toll, provided that this amount is calculated in accordance with Article 7(7) and (9).

Article 10

1. For the purpose of this Directive, the rates of change between the euro and the national currencies of the Member States which have not adopted the euro shall be those in force on the first working day of October and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities; they shall have effect from 1 January of the following calendar year.

2. Member States which have not adopted the euro may maintain the amounts in force at the time of the annual adjustment made pursuant to paragraph 1 if the conversion of the amounts expressed in euro would result in a change of less than 5 % when expressed in national currencies.

Article 11

1. By the dates referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 7(7), the Commission shall present a report to the Council on the implementation of this Directive, taking account of developments in technology and traffic congestion.

2. Member States shall forward the necessary information to the Commission no later than six months before the dates referred to in paragraph 1 in order to enable the Commission to draw up the above report.

3. Member States introducing electronic toll and/or user-charging systems shall cooperate with the aim of achieving an appropriate level of interoperability.

Article 12

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 July 2000. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt such provisions, these shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. The procedure for such a reference shall be adopted by Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of domestic law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof.

Article 13

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 14

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at ...

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ C 59, 26.2.1997, p. 9.

(2) OJ C 206, 7.7.1997, p. 17.

(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 17 July 1997 (OJ C 286, 22.9.1997, p. 217), Council common position of 18 January 1999 and Decision of the European Parliament of ... (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ L 316, 31.10.1992, p. 12. Directive as last amended by Directive 94/74/EC (OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 46).

(5) OJ L 316, 31.10.1992, p. 19. Directive as amended by Directive 94/74/EC.

(6) [1995] ECR I-1827.

(7) OJ L 279, 12.11.1993, p. 32.

(8) OJ L 359, 31.12.1998, p. 1.

(9) OJ L 36, 9.2.1988, p. 33. Directive as last amended by Directive 96/1/EC (OJ L 40, 17.2.1996, p. 1).

(10) OJ L 368, 17.12.1992, p. 38.

(11) OJ 23, 3.4.1962, p. 720/62. Decision as last amended by Decision 73/402/EEC (OJ L 347, 17.12.1973, p. 48).

ANNEX I

MINIMUM RATES OF TAX TO BE APPLIED TO VEHICLES

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ANNEX II

Maximum amounts in euro of user charges, including administrative costs, referred to in Article 7(7)

ANNUAL

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MONTHLY AND WEEKLY

Maximum monthly and weekly rates are in proportion to the duration of the use made of the infrastructure.

DAILY

The daily user charge is equal for all vehicle categories and amounts to EUR 8.

THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. In its judgment of 5 July 1995 (Case C-21/94), the Court of Justice of the European Communities annulled Directive 93/89/EEC of 25 October 1993 preserving the effects of the annulled Directive until a new Directive was adopted. The Directive was annulled because of a procedural irregularity (the Council had not reconsulted the European Parliament).

2. On 13 November 1996, the Commission sent the Council a proposal replacing the annulled Directive. It is based on Article 75(1) of the EC Treaty.

3. The European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee delivered their opinions on 17 July 1997 and 23 April 1997 respectively.

4. The Commission submitted an amended proposal on 14 July 1998.

5. The Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 189c of the Treaty on 18 January 1999.

II. THE AIMS OF THE PROPOSAL

The aims of the proposal are to develop further the internal market in road transport, to ensure that the costs associated with use of road infrastructure, including externalities, are better covered, to enable charges to be more closely adjusted to costs and to give the principle of territoriality a larger role in the recovery of the costs arising from use of the road infrastructure.

The proposal applies to annual vehicle taxes, user charges and tolls.

It applies to haulage vehicles with a maximum permissible gross laden weight of not less than 12 tonnes, but not to vehicles carrying out transport operations exclusively in the non-European territories of the Member States or to vehicles registered in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, the Azores or Madeira and carrying out transport operations exclusively in those territories or between those territories and Spain and Portugal.

The proposal contributes to both the completion of the Single Market, in that it seeks to eliminate distortions of competition, and the common transport policy.

In addition to legal instruments for eliminating distortions of competition, the Directive makes explicit reference to other texts, including:

- the White Paper 'The future development of the common transport policy` (1), which recommended a more comprehensive strategy for achieving more sustainable and balanced transport,

- the Green Paper 'Towards fair and efficient pricing in transport` (2), which addresses, in particular, ways of correcting non-viable transport trends and considers, in particular, ways of internalising external costs,

- the regulations and technical or organisational instruments designed to make other forms of inland transport more attractive and more profitable and to improve the quality of service, such as the liberalisation of the rail market, the pilot actions for combined transport (PACT) and the restructuring of the inland waterway transport market.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COUNCIL'S COMMON POSITION

The text was considerably altered in the course of the discussions. The common position differs from the Commission's amended proposal in many respects:

- the legal basis: the Council found it necessary to add Article 99 of the Treaty, as Chapter II of the Directive deals with vehicle taxation, which is a form of indirect taxation, and requires an alignment of minimum rates of tax,

- Articles 2 and 7: the Council did not retain the concepts of 'sensitive route`, 'external costs` or the associated concepts of 'authorised transport operator` or 'open access`, following in this regard the opinion of the European Parliament. The Council took the view that the concept of sensitive routes lacked clear definition in Community law. In addition, the concept of sensitive routes as it emerges from the European Parliament amendment cannot be taken into consideration at present, since the specific regulations defining particularly polluted corridors are still lacking.

In the Council's opinion, no detailed study quantifying the external costs across all modes of transport exists at present.

The Council therefore chose to follow the Parliament's opinion and omit all reference to concepts and methods of calculation which had not yet been properly developed,

- in Article 3, references to Austrian, Finnish and Swedish vehicle taxes have been added and the references to other Member States' vehicle taxes have been supplemented,

- in the first subparagraph of Article 6(1) and in Annex I, the Council followed the European Parliament's opinion and the Commission's amended proposal and chose not to keep maximum rates of tax or the option of below minimum rates for Member States with a system of user charges.

As far as maximum rates of tax are concerned, it will be remembered that the Council has never considered harmonising this form of indirect taxation. The rates set for VAT and excise duties on manufactured tobacco, alcoholic beverages and mineral oils were minimum rates only. Such minimum rates were regarded as sufficient to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market and it was considered that compliance with the principle of subsidiarity should be upheld as far as possible.

The Council saw no justification for the provision allowing Member States operating a user-charge system to apply rates of tax below the minimum, since this did not contribute to harmonisation and since, although tolls and user charges were linked to actual vehicle use, this was not true for vehicle taxes. To link the two was not felt to be appropriate.

The minimum rates of tax adopted are those proposed by the Commission (for the Euro II rate) and those laid down in Directive 93/89/EEC.

The Council decided against varying the rates of vehicle tax according to Euro class. However there is nothing to stop Member States introducing such differentiation provided that they comply with the minimum rates. Differentiation has, however, been retained for user charges (Annex II) and is optional for tolls (Article 7(10)(a)),

- the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) introduces a transitional measure, which allows some Member States the time to adapt to the rates laid down in Annex I,

- Article 6(3): the Council considered that all further exemptions from or reductions in taxes on vehicles required authorisation by the Council acting unanimously, as is already the case for VAT and excise duties, irrespective of a Member State's reasons for requesting such tax exemptions or reductions,

- in the second paragraph of Article 7(2)(a) the Council chose to specify the reference to the highest category of road by adding 'from the technical point of view`,

- Article 7(2)(b)(i): provision has been made for tolls and user charges to be introduced on other sections of the primary road network. This reflects the need to take account of safety reasons and the features of Member States which lack a comprehensive network of motorways or dual carriageways with similar characteristics, provided that the traffic demand and population density do not justify the construction of motorways,

- Article 7(2)(iii): the Council has introduced the possibility for Austria to apply a toll rather than a user charge for the stretch of motorway between Kufstein and the Brenner. Thus, although the concept of 'sensitive routes` (see above re Articles 2 and 7) was not retained, it was felt that the problem of the Brenner route should be taken into account as recommended in the European Parliament's opinion. The special circumstances of this route therefore justify introducing a toll on the segment concerned,

- Article 7(6): the Council saw fit to reintroduce the measure under Directive 93/89/EEC whereby a Member State may provide that vehicles registered in that Member State are subject to user charges for the use of the whole road network in its territory. The characteristics of some Member States' motorway systems and the need to avoid a significant diversion of traffic on to minor roads militated in favour of keeping this measure,

- via a reference to Annex II, the first subparagraph of Article 7(7) lays down the maximum rates for user charges. The Council opted for a less rigid formula than the one used in Directive 93/89/EEC which avoids the considerable complications of the Commission's proposed solution. The Commission proposal provided for maximum and minimum rates, whereas the common position sets only maximum rates. These maximum rates are then differentiated according to a vehicle's Euro category and number of axles, along the lines proposed by the Parliament; the proposal, on the other hand, used a more complex formula, taking into account, in addition to the vehicle's Euro category, the degree of vehicle road damage calculated on the basis of a special annex (Annex II to the proposal).

The Council also decided on maximum rates for daily charges and for annual charges. Maximum annual charges have been set between EUR 750 and EUR 1 550, figures which are lower than those proposed by the Commission or sought by the Parliament,

- the third subparagraph of Article 7(7) provides for a 50 % reduction in user charges for vehicles registered in Greece. This transitional rule in Directive 93/89/EEC, applying to vehicles registered in several Member States was not adopted in the new Commission proposal. The European Parliament opinion proposes that such reductions apply to vehicles registered in peripheral regions; having given the situation careful thought, the Council considered that only Greece, because of its geopolitical position, should benefit from such a provision,

- Article 7(9) reflects the Council's view that the weighted average of tolls should be related to the costs of constructing, operating and developing the infrastructure network concerned. The text proposed by the Commission was extremely complex, listing other components in addition to the infrastructure costs, such as a rate of return equivalent to that attainable in similar investment projects. The text adopted by the Council nevertheless allows Member States operating a toll system to vary it above and below the weighted average, provided that they adhere to the basic principle of linkage between toll rates and the cost of infrastructure,

- in Article 7(10), in conjunction with Article 7(9) (described above), the Council chose to vary toll rates according to the emission class of the vehicle and the time of day when the vehicle is on the road. These options were introduced in order to encourage greater respect for the environment. Some more polluting vehicles may thus have to pay heavier tolls. Similarly, tolls may be varied depending on whether vehicles are on the road during the day, at night or during certain rush hours. The weighted average must apply in all cases,

- in Article 9(2), the Council thought it necessary to introduce a measure enabling those Member States which so desired to allocate a percentage of the revenue from user charges or tolls to environmental protection or the development of other transport networks. This applied on condition that the amount of user charges complied with the maximum levels established in Annex II to the Directive and that the weighted average of the tolls was linked to the cost of construction, maintenance and development of the infrastructure concerned,

- in Article 10, the Council introduced a slight technical amendment concerning conversion to the euro,

- in Article 11, concerning the introduction of electronic tolls, the Council considered that the Commission could at any time enforce its right of initiative and that with regard to future proposals very specific criteria should not be imposed on it in advance. Consequently, the Council simplified paragraph 2 and deleted the final sentences which were also extremely detailed,

- it should also be pointed out that the Council did not consider it expedient to retain the sanctions provided for by the Commission in Article 15 of its proposal. The Council thought that it was up to the Member States to provide for their own sanctions applicable to infringements of national provisions.

IV. AMENDMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

1. Amendments by the European Parliament taken over by the Commission and adopted by the Council

The Council followed the Commission's amended proposal, adopting wholly or in part the European Parliament's amendments set out below:

- amendment 5, which deletes recital 9 referring to the second subparagraph of Article 6(1), which authorised Member States to set vehicle taxes below the minimum rates,

- amendment 8, which modifies recital 16 of the proposal (recital 18 of the common position) by calling for differentiation in user charge rates, instead of limited differentiation proposed in the first instance by the Commission,

- amendment 10, which modifies recital 18 of the proposal (recital 20 of the common position) by adding a reference to the territoriality principle,

- amendment 11, which modifies the first subparagraph of Article 6(1) by deleting the requirement that vehicle taxes should not go beyond a certain ceiling proposed by the Commission,

- amendment 12, deleting the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) which allowed non-compliance with the minimum rates when a user charge system was in operation,

- amendment 15, which introduces a new subparagraph into Article 7(2) of the proposal (Article 7(7) of the common position), providing for a 50 % reduction in user charge rates for vehicles registered in peripheral regions. The Council felt that such a reduction was justified solely in the case of Greece, in view of its geopolitical situation.

2. Amendments by the European Parliament taken over by the Commission but not adopted by the Council

- amendment 2, modifying recital 3 of the proposal by deleting all references to maximum levels for vehicle taxes. The Council preferred to delete the entire recital; however, the Parliament's request that these maximum rates be deleted was taken into account in the enacting terms,

- amendment 3, introducing a recital referring to the Alpine Convention. While acknowledging the importance of this Convention, the Council did not think it advisable to include a reference to it in the context of this Directive,

- amendment 13, introducing a new paragraph 1a into Article 6 providing for a regular review of vehicle taxes. The Council thought that the Commission, by virtue of its right of initiative, could at any time submit proposals which it considered necessary,

- amendment 23, modifying the second subparagraph of Article 13(1) by asking that information to be forwarded to the Commission should specify the degree to which road traffic costs were covered, by category of vehicle and road. The Council did not accept this amendment, mainly because Member States were not in a position to supply the additional data suggested by the Parliament.

3. Amendments by the European Parliament taken over by neither the Commission nor the Council

The Council did not incorporate into its common position the following amendments by the European Parliament, which the Commission failed to take over:

- amendment 1 was not adopted in the common position, as the Council did not think it right to prejudge any Commission proposals on the charging of external costs, particularly since the appropriate methodology for calculating such costs in all modes of transport was not available at present,

- amendment 4, which referred to no specific legal provision in the Directive,

- amendment 7, introducing the concept of sensitive areas, which the Commission found impractical and which the Council did not adopt in the enacting terms, as stated under III, re Article 7(2)(iii). Furthermore, as was pointed out with reference to amendment 1, the Council took the view that potential Commission proposals should not be prejudged,

- amendment 24, modifying the existing structure for vehicle taxes. Neither the Council nor the Commission thought it advisable to change the existing structure, since the Member States which had already implemented it had expressed no objection to it.

4. Amendments by the European Parliament not taken over by the Commission but adopted wholly or in part by the Council

- amendments 9, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, which delete all provisions relating to external costs and to sensitive routes, were adopted by the Council for the reasons set out above under III, re Articles 2 and 7,

- furthermore, amendment 17 which considered the special case of the Brenner motorway was also taken into account by the Council. Amendments were, nevertheless, made for the reasons set out above under III, re Article 7(2)(iii),

- on the other hand, with regard to amendment 22, the Council did not accept the advisory committee provided for in Article 10 of the proposal for the determination of sensitive routes; neither did it accept the European Parliament's idea of using this committee for authorising exemptions from or reductions in vehicle taxes, since Article 6(3) reserves the power to issue such authorisation for the Council.

(1) COM(92) 494 final.

(2) COM(95) 691 final.