COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 16.01.1998 
COM(98) 6 final 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 
on the Transit of Goods by Road through Austria 

REPORT TO THE COUNCIL 
on the Transit of Goods by Road through Austria 
1. INTRODUCTION 
1.1 Basis for the Report 
Protocol No. 9 of the Act of Accession of the Kingdom of Norway, the republic of 
Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden1 covers road, rail and 
combined transport operation in Austria. Articles 10-15 of the protocol permit the 
operation of a regime in Austria to limit certain emissions from heavy goods 
vehicles transiting Austria. This regime shall have a maximum duration of until 31 
December 2003. 
However, the duration of the ecopoint system is subject to two reviews. Article 
11(4) requires that "before 1 January 2001, the Commission, in co-operation with 
the European Environment Agency, shall make a scientific study of the degree to 
which the objective [of a 60% reduction of NOx emissions] has been achieved". If 
Commission concludes that this objective has been achieved on a sustainable basis 
then the ecopoint system shall cease to apply on 1 January 2001. 
In addition, Article 11(3) of the protocol requires that "Before 1 January 1998, the 
Council, on the basis of a report from the Commission, shall review the operation of 
provisions concerning transit of goods by road through Austria". Furthermore, 
"Unless the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and 
after consulting the European Parliament, decides otherwise, the transitional period 
shall be extended to 1 January 2001". 
In accordance with the obligations of Article 11(3) the Commission has thus drawn 
up this report on the transit of goods by road through Austria, which covers the 
operation of the ecopoint system since its inception. 
1.2 History 
The ecopoint system came into existence as a direct consequence of the geographic 
position (and geography) of Austria and the historical development of road transport 
in Western Europe. 
Lying immediately between Italy and Germany and also on a major corridor to 
eastern Europe Austria is thus susceptible to transit traffic in both north-south and 
east-west directions. 
1 O.J. No. C24I of 29.08.1994, p. 361. 
Furthermore, the geography of Austria's alpine areas both encourages north-south 
travel along alpine valleys and also means that the fragile environment is 
particularly susceptible to the negative effects of traffic pollution and noise. 
The long-term growth in the transport of freight by road has been exacerbated in 
Austria by the policy of low weight limits for trucks in Switzerland which has 
resulted in considerable additional traffic being diverted via Austria. 
The environmental concerns in Austria resulted in a desire for action to reverse the 
deteriorating environmental situation caused by transit traffic. 
On 2 May 1992 an Agreement between the European Economic Community and the 
Republic of Austria on the Transit of Goods by Road and Rail2 was signed. Article 
15 of the Agreement stated that "the Parties agreed to reduce the emissions and 
noise generated by heavy goods vehicles crossing Austrian territory in transit. Such 
a reduction shall be achieved by cutting NOx emissions"3. It went on to say that 
"total NOx emissions from heavy goods vehicles with a laden weight of 7.5 tonnes 
registered in one Party [i.e. either in the Community of 12 or Austria] and crossing 
Austria by transit shall, starting in 1992, be reduced by 60% in the twelve year 
period until the end of 2003". 
Thus an overall limit on total NOx emissions was calculated for the year 1991 and 
this is reduced on a linear basis by a total of 60% until the end of 2003. 
As a safeguard to ensure that technical progress in the development of cleaner 
engines does not make the ecopoint system ineffective Article 15(5)(2) of the 
Agreement also lays down a quantitative limit of 108% of the journeys made in 
1991 (1 617 600 journeys). If this limit is exceeded then the number of ecopoints 
made available the following year is revised downwards by an agreed formula. 
The distribution of ecopoints amongst the Member States was laid down in Council 
Regulation (EEC) No.3637/924. Not only did this Regulation fix the proportion of 
each year's ecopoints that every country would get, it also created a "Community 
Reserve", whereby each Member States puts 3.34% of their national ecopoint 
allocation into a reserve which is then used to alleviate shortages. 
In 1993 during preliminary meetings on accession Austria confirmed that they 
wished the ecopoint system to continue after their accession into the European 
Union. Therefore, on 1 January 1995 the ecopoint system was revised quantitatively 
to include Sweden and Finland for the first time and to take into account the revised 
status of Austria as a Member State - in particular, its obligations to contribute to -
and possibility to benefit from - the Community Reserve of ecopoints. 
2 Published as Council Decision 92/577/EEC of 27 November 1992 in O.J. No. L373 of 21.12.1992, p. 4. 
3 NOx is a eoMective term for all the oxides of nitrogen. 
4 O.J. No. L373of21.12.1992, p. 1. 
Continuation of the ecopoint system with Austria, Finland and Sweden as Member 
States of the European Union was formalised in Protocol No. 9 of the Act of 
Accession, whilst As a consequence of Article 11(6) of Protocol No.9, Commission 
Regulation (EC) No. 3298/945 replaced Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3637/92 in 
laying down detailed measures for the operation of the ecopoint system for fifteen 
Member States. 
Since the accession of Austria Regulation 3298/94 has been amended by 
Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1524/966. This Regulation provides for the 
introduction of an electronic telematics-based ecopoint system to largely replace the 
paper system. Its basis is Article 14 of the Act of Accession, which states that 
"1. There shall be no controls at the borders between Austria and other Member 
States. However, in derogation from Regulations (EEC) No 4060/89 and (EEC) No 
3912/92 and notwithstanding Article 153 of the Act of Accession, non­
discriminatory physical controls requiring vehicles to halt in order solely to verify 
ecopoints may be retained until 31 December 1996. Such controls shall not 
unduly slow down the normal flow of traffic. 
2. To the extent necessary, any control methods including electronic systems 
applicable after 31 December 1996 and relating to the implementation of Article 11 
shall be decided in accordance with [the management committee for the ecopoint 
system]". 
1.3 Operation of the System since 1.1.1993 
It should firstly be noted that the ecopoint system only applies to freight vehicles 
over 7.5 tonnes registered in the Community making transit journeys through 
Austria.7 Thus the following vehicles are exempted from having to use ecopoints: 
- all vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 7.5 tonnes or less; 
- all passenger vehicles; 
- all vehicles making bilateral journeys to/from Austria; 
- all vehicles circulating locally within Austria; 
- all vehicles using ECMT permits to transit Austria; 
5 O.J. No. L341 of 30.12.1994, p. 20. 
6 O.J. No. LI90 of 31.07.1996, p. 13. 
7 On the basis of bilateral agreements an analogous ecopoint system is applied independently by Norway 
and Slovenia for vehicles transiting Austria and it is planned that other countries shall also adopt the 
system for vehicles transiting Austria and that the EEA Agreement shall be amended to include the 
Ecopoint system. Norway and Slovenia neither contribute to- nor benefit from the Community 
Reserve of ecopoints. 
Furthermore, there are a limited number of categories of freight vehicles over 7.5 
tonnes that are exempt from paying ecopoints. These are listed in Annex C of 
Regulation 3298/94 and the list is analogous to types of transport exempted from 
ECMT permit requirements. 
The ecopoint system operates by means of annually producing a number of 
ecopoints which is equivalent to the number of trips made in the base year (of 1991) 
multiplied by the NOx target average for the year in question. Currently the 
ecopoints take the form of adhesive paper stamps but from 1998 an electronic 
equivalent will also be available. 
The paper-based system works by requiring each heavy goods vehicle to "pay" a 
number of ecopoints for each transit journey through Austria, where one ecopoint 
corresponds to the emission of 1 g NOx per kilowatt hour (kWh) of the vehicle 
making the journey. Thus, for example, a vehicle with an emission level of 8 grams 
NOx /kWh would have to use 8 ecopoints to make a single transit journey across 
Austrian territory. 
lor vehicles built on or after 1 October 1990 the information on the vehicle's 
emissions level is known from the type-approval documentation (issued when the 
vehicle is manufactured). It is for each Member State, usually in co-operation with 
vehicle manufacturers or importers, to then issue a vehicle with a Conformity of 
Production (COP) Document which states the NOx value and ecopoint liability. For 
trucks built before October 1990 (for which no recognised type-approval 
information on the vehicle's emissions exists) or when a vehicle has not been issued 
with a COP document (or when the driver does not present a COP document at the 
border) a "default" of 16 ecopoints must be paid for a transit journey. The 
possibility exists for a truck that receives a replacement engine cleaner than its 
original to get a new COP document. 
Ecopoints are affixed to a standardised form known as the ecocard, which replaced 
previous documentation necessary for transiting Austria. Ecocards are sold by the 
Austrian authorities (at a price of less than 0.2 ECU per ecocard) and this finances 
the operation of the paper-based ecopoint system. 
The establishment of a Community reserve is laid down in Commission Regulation 
n° 3298/94 which has been adopted in accordance with Article 11(6) of Protocol n° 
9 and which ensures that the factual situation for the Member States at the time of 
the Accession resulting from the Application of Council Regulation (EEC) n° 
3637/92 and of the Administrative Arrangement signed on 23 December 1992 
setting the date of entry into force and the procedures for the introduction of the 
ecopoints system referred to in the Transit Agreement, is maintained. 
In addition to the mandatory 3.34% contribution of ecopoints each Member State 
makes into the Community Reserve each country is also obliged to return ecopoints 
that would be unused to the Community Reserve for redistribution as a solidarity 
measure to help countries with ecopoint shortages. The Commission formally holds 
the Community Reserve of ecopoints and distributes it subject to the approval of the 
management committee for the ecopoint system. The management committee for 
the ecopoint system was formally established by Article 16 of Protocol No 9. 
2. ANALYSIS OF THE OPERATION OF THE ECOPOINT SYSTEM8,9 
Table 1 shows the distribution of ecopoints between the Member States, as well as 
the 3.34 percent Community Reserve which remains with the Commission. (The 
actual distribution of the Community Reserve for the years 1993 to 1996 is shown in 
Table 5). 
Table 1 clearly shows how the number of ecopoints available for each Member State 
is fixed on a diminishing basis until the end of 2003. The distribution of ecopoints 
between Member States is fixed proportionally and is based on the number of transit 
journeys made in 1991 (based on statistics collected by the Austrian Ministry of 
Transport). 
The only variation that is possible is in the total number of ecopoints available (and 
the 3.34% proportion designated for the Community Reserve) which can increase 
upon enlargement of the EU (as occurred in 1995), or if the EEA Agreement is 
amended to include the ecopoint system (which would have the effect of adding 
three countries - Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - to the system for the Member 
States). 
8 The analysis of the workings of the ecopoint system shall deal solely with the Member States. Thus, the 
use of ecopoints by Austria prior to accession in 1995, as well as ecopoints used by Slovenia and 
Norway shall be excluded from this chapter. 
9 Statistical note. In some of the tables and graphs statistics for Spain arid Portugal have been corrupted 
with German trucks ("D" on the ecocard form) being misread as Portuguese (P) and similarly Italian 
trucks (I) misread as Spanish (E). Whilst the total numbers of misread ecocards is small the distorting 
effect on the statistics of countries like Spain and Portugal that make relatively few transit journeys is 
sufficiently great to seriously corrupt the national statistics. In such cases the corrupted data is 
replaced by the term n/a (= not accurate). However, it should be noted that the statistics for EUR 
12/EUR 15 remain correct. 
Table 2 shows the total number of trips made each year, by nationality. This shows 
that there was a considerable growth in transit trips through Austria in 1995. Several 
factors can be put forward for this growth - the end of the war in former Yugoslavia, 
the opening of the markets in Eastern Europe, an economic upturn in EU Member 
States, the reduction of the Austrian "StraBenverkehrsbeitrag" (road-user charge) to 
the level of the Eurovignette. However, it should be noted that on the one hand, the 
upper threshold of 1 617 600 journeys (108% of the 1991 coefficient) was not yet 
exceeded and, on the other hand, if this ceiling is reached it will trigger an automatic 
additional reduction in the number of ecopoints for the following year. The ecopoint 
system thus does give a guarantee to the population of Austria that in addition to the 
guaranteed reduction of emissions transit traffic by trucks cannot continue to grow 
indefinitely. Both guarantees are unique in the European Union. 
Table 2 shows the breakdown of trucks transiting Austria by nationality. Trucks 
registered in Italy and Germany make the most transits, accounting for over two-
thirds of all transit journeys. The third most-important country, as far as transit 
journeys through Austria is concerned, is Austria itself- Austrian trucks account for 
some ten percent of transit trips. 
Table 3 shows the average number of ecopoints used per transit trip. This has been 
calculated as the number of ecopoints used divided by the number of trips made. 
From the table it can be seen that the EU average is reducing steadily and is lower 
than the theoretical EU target figure - the average figure that will guarantee the 1991 
level of transit journeys. This means that the application of the ecopoint system has 
brought even greater reductions in vehicle emissions than expected. 
There are considerable differences in the trends of the national averages. Two 
Member States (Denmark and Italy) have reduced their average ecopoint use per trip 
by over thirty percent in four years. In contrast, the Greek average has only 
improved by 3.3 percent over the same period. 
The figures in Table 3 reflect not only the absolute performance of the vehicles but 
also the relative improvements. In some cases these are due to the efforts of the 
national administrations of Member States to optimise their ecopoint allocation, 
such as by granting only a fixed (low) number of ecopoints per trip to encourage 
hauliers to use the most environmentally-friendly vehicles. 
The Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland on 1.1.1995 added three fleets of 
trucks with low average ecopoint use. However, this does not seem to have had an 
impact on the statistics. 
Table 4 shows the distribution of the EU fleet of trucks in terms of ecopoints used. It 
should be noted that trucks meeting Eurp 1 standards have a maximum ecopoint 
requirement of 9 ecopoints per trip, whilst trucks meeting Euro 2 standards have a 
maximum ecopoint use of 7 ecopoints per trip. 
It can be seen that the proportion of trucks paying the maximum 16 ecopoints per 
transit trip has gone down from over 51% in 1993 to under 18% in 1996. In contrast, 
the proportion of trucks paying 8 ecopoints has risen from under 20% in 1993 to 
over 41% in 1996, and the proportion of trucks meeting Euro 2 standards on NOx 
emissions has gone from virtually none in 1993 to almost 27% in 1996. 
Table 5 shows the use of ecopoints by Member States. It also shows the total 
number of ecopoints that each Member State has received from - or given to the 
ecopoint reserve. Nine of the fifteen Member States have benefited from ecopoints 
from the reserve whilst six Member States (Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, 
Ireland, Finland and Portugal) have contributed to the ecopoint reserve without 
benefiting from it. 
The total ecopoint use by the 15 Member States can, from Table 5, be seen to have 
declined by 10% from 1995 to 1996. This represents an actual reduction in the 
pollution made by trucks in transit. 
3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
The main conclusion that can be drawn from the first four years of the ecopoint 
system is that it has successfully reduced the average amount of pollution caused by 
EU trucks transiting Austria. The average NOx emissions from trucks has fallen by 
over 27% in four years - an improvement that exceeds the agreed target. Whilst 
there is no evidence to show that such an improvement is solely due to the ecopoint 
system the scale of the improvement has been such that it may be safely assumed 
that the ecopoint system has acted as an incentive. 
Secondly, the creation of an EU reserve of ecopoints has proved to be an essential 
tool in managing the use of ecopoints. In addition to the 3.34% Community Reserve 
Member States have also shown considerable solidarity in returning unused 
ecopoints for the use of other Member States. 
Thirdly, even allowing for differing age profiles of the national truck fleets prior to 
the introduction of the ecopoint system, the rate at which fleets have adapted to 
make the most efficient use of ecopoints varies considerably between Member 
States. 
Fourthly, total emissions of transit traffic are now declining. The total number of 
ecopoints used in 1996 was significantly lower than in 1995 and, given that the 
number of ecopoints available in 1997 is less than the number used in 1996, a 
further reduction in total emissions is guaranteed. 
The Commission concludes that the ecopoint system is both a fair and effective 
means of reducing pollution made by trucks transiting Austria. The Commission, 
therefore, is of the opinion that the ecopoint system continues in operation until the 
next review period of 1 January 2001. 
Furthermore, the Commission is of the opinion that the ecopoint system is an 
efficient method of reducing pollution by trucks. However, full consideration 
should be given to developing other instruments to ultimately replace the ecopoint 
system in order that none of the environmental benefits accruing from the ecopoint 
system are lost, in view of the fact that any possible extension of such system could 
only be to 1.1.2003, in accordance with Article 11(4) of Protocol n° 9. 
Finally it should be noted that the issue of EU traffic being diverted via Austria 
because of transport policies in a Third Country (Switzerland) - with the consequent 
negative environmental effects for Europe as a whole - have yet to be resolved. 
ANNEX 
Statistical Tables 
Table 1 : Distribution of ecopoints 1991 - 2003 
Table 2: Number of Transit Trips Through Austria, by Member State 1993-1996 
Table 3: Average number of ecopoints used per trip, by Member State 1993-1996 
Table 4: Ecopoints used per truck, 1993-1996 
Table 5: Ecopoint use by Member State, 1993-1996. 
TABLE 1 : Distribution of ECO Points 
O 5.555.371 5.036.250 4.579.113 4.245.946 
2.352.108 2.132.316 1.938.767 1.797.706 
14.799.610 13.456.256 12.477.206 11.816.918 11.338.778 11.042.782 10.200.343 
96,1% 
14,60 87,9% 
13,35 79,5% 
12,08 71,7% 
10,89 65,0% 
9,88 59,1% 
8,96 54,8% 
8,33 51,9% 
7,88 49,8% 
7,57 48,5% 
7,37 44,8% 
6,81 40,0% I 
6,08 
Table 2 
No. of transit trips through Austria 
1 
D 
A 
NL 
Ell 
DK 
B 
UK 
S 
F 
L 
Fin 
E 
Irl 
P 
TOTAL: 
Eur 12 
Eur 15 1993 
435.447 
379.968 
— 
63.267 
17.002 
26.172 
15.414 
1.684 
— 
3.373 
3.427 
— 
n/a 
39 
n/a 
983.986 
— TRIPS MADE 
1994 
501 820 
421.592 
— 
67.419 
16.507 
30.567 
15.476 
2.566 
— 
4.835 
4.050 
--
n/a 
52 
n/a 
1.095.475 
— 1995 
535540 
493.330 
147.974 
100.783 
45.034 
38.857 
20.207 
6.104 
9.817 
6.343 
4.161 
2.493 
n/a 
429 
n/a 
1.280.430 
1.440.714 1996 
570.775 
505.781 
155.462 
105.731 
46.839 
40.661 
23.624 
6.504 
7.054 
4.440 
3.840 
4.494 
n/a 
299 
n/a 
1.315.485 
1.482.495 1 
D 
A 
NL 
Ell 
DK 
B 
UK 
S 
F 
L 
Fin 
E 
Irl 
P 
TOTAL: 
Eur 12 
Eur 15 PERCENTAGE CHANGE 
94/93 
15,2% 
11.0% 
... 
6,6% 
-2,9% 
16,8% 
0,4% 
52,4% 
— 
43,3% 
18,2% 
— 
n/a 
33,3% 
n/a 
11,3% 
— 95/94 
6,7% 
17,0% 
... 
49,5% 
172,8% 
27,1% 
30,6% 
137,9% 
... 
31,2% 
2,7% 
... 
n/a 
725,0% 
n/a 
16,9% 
... 96/95 
6,6% 
2,5% 
5,1% 
4,9% 
4,0% 
4,6% 
16,9% 
6,6% 
-28,1% 
-30,0% 
-7,7% 
80,3% 
n/a 
-30,3% 
n/a 
2,7% 
2,9% 96/93 
31,1% 
33,1% 
... 
67,1% 
175,5% 
55,4% 
53,3% 
286,2% 
... 
31,6% 
12,1% 
... 
n/a 
666,7% 
n/a 
33,7% 
— 
NOTES: 
n/a = See footnote 8 in text 
Table 3 
Average number of ecopoints used per transit trip 
I 
D 
A 
NL 
Ell 
DK 
B 
UK 
S 
F 
L 
Fin 
E 
Irl 
P 
EU Average 
EU target 
% Better 
than target ECOPOINTS PER TRIP 
1993 
13,26 
12,69 
_ 
12,97 
15,65 
13,40 
13,81 
15,60 
... 
13,89 
10,93 
... 
n/a 
15,28 
n/a 
13,08 
13,35 
2,0% 1994 
11,86 
11,67 
— 
12,46 
15,60 
12,24 
12,84 
15,74 
— 
12,94 
10,30 
... 
n/a 
15,42 
n/a 
11,92 
12,08 
1,3% 1995 
10,33 
10,77 
10,07 
11,68 
15,54 
10,78 
12,20 
14,92 
11,67 
11,88 
9,68 
9,29 
n/a 
15,22 
n/a 
10,81 
10,89 
0,7% 1996 
9,02 
9,43 
8,99 
10,17 
15,13 
8,82 
10,09 
12,14 
9,83 
10,71 
8,08 
8,28 
n/a 
12,18 
n/a 
9,47 
9,88 
4,1% 1 
D 
A 
NL 
Ell 
DK 
B 
UK 
S 
F 
L 
Fin 
E 
Irl 
P 
EU Average PERCENTAGE CHANGE 
94/93 
-10,6% 
-8,0% 
... 
-3,9% 
-0,3% 
-8,7% 
-7,0% 
0,9% 
... 
-6.8% 
-5,8% 
— 
n/a 
0,9% 
n/a 
-8,9% 95/94 
-12,9% 
-7,7% 
... 
-6,3% 
-0,4% 
-11,9% 
-5,0% 
-5,2% 
... 
-8,2% 
-6,0% 
... 
n/a 
-1,3% 
n/a 
-9,3% 96/95 
-12,7% 
-12,4% 
-10,7% 
-12,9% 
-2,6% 
-18,2% 
-17,3% 
-18,6% 
-15,8% 
-9,8% 
-16,5% 
-10,9% 
n/a 
-20,0% 
n/a 
-12,4% 96/93 
-32,0% 
-25,7% 
... 
-21,6% 
-3,3% 
-34,2% 
-26,9% 
-22,2% 
... 
-22,9% 
-26,1% 
--
n/a 
-20,3% 
n/a 
-27,6% 
NOTES: n/a = See footnote 8 in text 
// 
Table 4 
Ecopoints used per truck 
Ecopoints used 
<=5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 NUMBER OF TRIPS MADE 
1993 1994 1995 1996 
628 
443 
1521 
189440 
79403 
46208 
10093 
66668 
25477 
50234 
7772 
506099 1280 
875 
16540 
354347 
121422 
14020 
12201 
71968 
24781 
47355 
8101 
422585 2346 
6718 
128680 
578304 
140771 
21596 
12157 
67913 
20653 
40678 
7100 
413798 2313 
47971 
345704 
614316 
111274 
16607 
7164 
38399 
11117 
23305 
4707 
259618 Ecopoints used 
<=5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 Proportion of trips 
1993 1994 
0,1% 
0,0% 
0,2% 
19,3% 
8,1% 
4,7% 
1,0% 
6,8% 
2,6% 
5,1% 
0,8% 
51,4% 0,1% 
0,1% 
1,5% 
32,3% 
11,1% 
1,3% 
1,1% 
6,6% 
2,3% 
4,3% 
0,7% 
38,6% 1995 
0,2% 
0.5% 
8,9% 
40,1% 
9,8% 
1,0% 
0,8% 
4,7% 
1,4% 
2,8% 
0,5% 
28,7% 1996 
0,2% 
3,2% 
23,3% 
41,4% 
7,5% 
1.5% 
0,5% 
2,6% 
0,7% 
1,6% 
0,3% 
17,5% 
total trips 983986 1095475 1440714 1482495 
TABLE 5 
Ecopolnt Use by Member State 
BELGIUM 1993 1994 1995 1996 
National allocation 434.006 392.531 354.019 320.938 
Additional ecopoints received -110.000 -100.000 -30.000 -10.000 
Ecopoints used 212.830 198.738 246.550 238.470 
OENMARK 1993 1994 1995 1996 
National allocation 540.839 489.154 441.162 399.938 
Additional ecopoints received -50.578 0 15.000 20.000 
Ecopoints used 350.793 374.094 418.808 358.690 
GERMANY 1993 1994 1995 1996 
National allocation 6.443.324 5.827.579 5 255.817 4.764.688 
Additional ecopoints received -663.658 -200.000 331.000 100.000 
Ecopoints used 4.821.539 4.919.037 5.314.623 4.767.712 
GREECE 1993 1994 1995 1996 
National allocation 807.919 730.712 659 020 597.438 
Additional ecopoints received -202.781 -235.615 142.574 186.683 
Ecopoints used 266.007 257.542 699.928 708.886 
SPAIN 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 
FRANCE 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 
IRELAND 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 1993 
16.025 
0 
n/a 
1993 
66.770 
-17.000 
46.861 
1993 
13.354 
-12.700 
596 1994 
14.993 
0 
n/a 
1994 
60.389 
0 
62.575 
1994 
12.078 
-10.000 
802 1995 
13.071 
10.000 
n/a 
1995 
54.464 
25.705 
75.379 
1995 
10.893 
-1.600 
6.531 1996 
11.850 
8.500 
n/a 
1996 
49.375 
8.000 
47.544 
1996 
9.875 
-4.500 
3.641 
ITALY 1993 1994 1995 1996 
National allocation 6.810.560 6.159.721 5.555 371 5 036.250 
Additional ecopoints received -97.194 306.755 251000 266.552 
Ecopoints used 5.775.582 5.949.522 5.533.606 5.145.608 LUXEMBOURG 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 1993 
66.770 
0 
37.465 1994 
60.389 
0 
41.711 1995 
54.464 
5.000 
40.280 1996 
49.375 
0 
31.016 
NETHERLANDS 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 
AUSTRIA 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 1993 1994 
1.649.224 1.491.619 
-300.000 -115.000 
820.631 839.705 
1993 1994 1995 1996 
1.345.271 1.219.563 
-20.000 -10.000 
1.177.033 1.075.147 
1995 1996 
2.352.108 2.132.316 
-180.574 -266.000 
1.489.931 1.398.163 
PORTUGAL 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 1993 
5.342 
-3.774 
n/a 1994 
4.831 
-1.405 
n/a 1995 
4.357 
0 
n/a 1996 
3.950 
0 
n/a 
FINLAND 1993 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 
SWEDEN 1993 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 
UNITED KINGDOM 1993 
National allocation 113.509 
Additional ecopoints received -62.407 
Ecopoints used 26.270 1994 1995 1996 
50.371 45.664 
-6.000 0 
23.164 37.211 
1994 1995 1996 
82.127 74.452 
30.000 10.000 
114.528 69.634 
1994 1995 1996 
102.662 9.590 83.938 
-25.000 20.000 5.000 
40.385 91.076 78.935 
E.U.15 
National allocation 
Ecopoints returned to EU Reserve 
Ecopoints distributed from EU Reserve 
Ecopoints used 
NOTES: 
n/a = See footnote 8 in text 
Negative values in the table denotes the number of ecopoints returned to the EU Reserve. 1995 1996 
16.325.105 14.799.610: 
238.! 74 290.500 
830.279 508.800 
15.576.061 14.036.529 
JX 

ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(98) 6 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 07 10 08 17 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-004-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-30037-3 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg 
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