B4-0308, 0451, 0452, 0453 and 0456/96

Resolution on roadtolls

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Alpine Convention,

- having regard to the Commission's Green Paper 'Towards fair and efficient pricing in transport',

A. whereas the transport of goods by road through the Austrian Alps is a considerable nuisance for the local population and causes significant damage to the natural environment of the region and whereas, therefore, every effort must be made to divert the transport of goods from road to rail,

B. whereas these measures cannot resolve the problems associated with the environment unless accompanied by the swift establishment of an effective trans-Alpine network for intermodal rail-road transport,

C. whereas the Brenner Pass is included in the list of priority projects for trans-European networks, more particularly the planned 'Brenner-Verona- Munich' route,

D. whereas transport of goods by rail should be encouraged in the context of the common transport policy,

E. whereas traffic is already being diverted onto a few Alpine passes, with the result that some 80% of all trans-Alpine traffic is now being diverted into the Brenner link,

F. whereas road transport continues to increase its share of freight traffic at the expense of rail and river transport, thanks to considerable public funding,

1. Calls on the Commission, Council and Member States to establish a transfrontier, sustainable Alpine transport policy that reduces the burdens and risks inherent in transalpine traffic to a tolerable level for man, flora and fauna and their environment;

2. Notes that the Commission has asked Austria for more detailed information about the increase in the Brenner toll imposed on 1 February 1996 and has announced the possibility of taking action against Austria for violating the Treaty;

3. Calls on the Austrian Government to ensure that the imposition and form of the road tolls for private vehicles and lorries, which it has announced the intention of introducing on 1 January 1997, at least comply with Community law;

4. Calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that this plan makes possible a uniform and lasting transport policy for the entire Alpine region whereby the external costs of transport are internalized;

5. Calls on the Commission and the Council to require the Member States to begin the necessary transport planning and construction measures in close cooperation with each other;

6. Calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the requisite transport plan presents road and rail as complementary rather than in competition and pays particular attention to competitiveness, efficiency and transparency of costs in rail and combined transport;

7. Calls on the Commission to promote further measures to develop goods transport by rail and to create the necessary conditions as soon as possible to establish fully intermodal and interoperable systems;

8. Asks the Commission to apply Community procedures in this area in order to ensure uniform implementation in all Member States;

9. Supports harmonization rules to ensure fair competition between the various modes of transport, taking account of the environmental and social costs;

10. Points out that the decisions and measures this will entail presuppose that at least the following instruments are used in the future:

- the internalization of the external costs of all means of transport in the Alps, non-discriminatory tolls in these Alpine regions and countries that comply with the principle of the internalization of external costs being accepted until this principle is applied and until an appropriate European approach is adopted;

- an increase in combined transport on routes to the Alpine regions and the improvement and expansion of existing rail links to and through the Alps as a whole;

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee, the governments of the EFTA states and the Central and Eastern European countries, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) and the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations.