Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No. 3298/94 of 21 December 1994 with regard to the system of ecopoints for heavy goods vehicles transiting through Austria

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. PURPOSE AND CONTENTS OF THE DRAFT

a) GENERAL OBLIGATIONS

The ecopoint system aims to reduce the NOx emissions made by lorries transiting Austria. It was adopted into EU legislation as Protocol No 9 of the Act of Accession of Austria [1].

[1] OJ C241 of 29.8.1994, p.361

Article 11(2)(c) of the Protocol lays down a safeguard clause that cuts the number of ecopoints available if the number of transit journeys made by lorries in a year exceeds the base year by more than 8 percent. This happened in 1999 when the number of transit journeys totalled 1 706 436 trips, which was 14.57% over the base year figure of 1 490 900 trips.

In accordance with Annex 5, paragraph 3 of the Protocol the average NOx emission value per lorry for the year 2000 has been calculated. From this the revised total number of ecopoints for 2000 can be calculated. This total is 9 546 446 ecopoints. When compared with the normal allocation for 2000 this is a reduction of 2 184 552 ecopoints - equivalent to some 350 000 journeys.

The Commission has already proposed a Regulation that would reduce the total number of ecopoints. The Committee set up by Article 16 of Protocol No 9 did not deliver an opinion on the measures provided in the proposal. In accordance with Article 16(3) the Commission shall without delay submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken.

b) THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The Commission is of the view that a literal interpretation of the Protocol, requiring this large cut in ecopoints in a single year, would be detrimental to the economy of the EU as a whole since there would be a grossly insufficient number of ecopoints available for transit traffic in the last quarter of 2000.

The Commission therefore proposes to spread the cut over the remaining 4-year life of the ecopoint system, with 30% of the reduction in each of the years 2000 to 2002 and the remaining 10% in 2003. This dynamic interpretation of the Protocol is, in the view of the Commission, within the spirit of the ecopoint system, since it still guarantees that the required reduction of emissions will take place.

Protocol No. 9 lays down no guidelines as regards the distribution of the reduction between the Member States. The Commission has therefore proposed that the burden should be borne by those Member States whose hauliers have resulted in the 8% threshold being exceeded.

The 108% threshold was exceeded in 1999 for two reasons. Firstly, there was a significant increase in the number of transit journeys by hauliers from some Member States in 1999 compared with 1997. Secondly, in 1999 hauliers from some Member States undertook more than 108% of the base figure of journeys allocated to them in 1991.

The Commission therefore proposes to combine both of these criteria to determine which Member States should share the reduction in ecopoints between them.

Using this methodology five Member States would be required to have a reduction in their ecopoint allocation, as follows:

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Because there is a risk that the 8% threshold is exceeded again in 2000 and that another punitive cut in ecopoints would not be desirable the Commission proposes that, exceptionally for 2000, the 108% threshold should be suspended, but that it should still apply for the years 2001 to 2003.

The proposal also seeks to address the problem of ecopoints that are neither used nor returned to the EU reserve for redistribution - some 440 000 ecopoints in 1999. The Commission therefore proposes that when a Member State has more than 2 percent of its ecopoints remaining unused at the end of the 'ecopoint year' (i.e. 31 January) then an equivalent quantity shall be deducted from that Member State's ecopoint quota for the following year and added to the E.U. Reserve.

2. CONTENTS OF THE PROPOSAL

The following articles are new and will modify the current situation as follows:

Article 1 amends Annex 4 of Protocol No 9 of the Act of Accession of Austria in order to reduce the total number of ecopoints available in 2000 to 2003.

Article 2 amends Regulation 3298/94 in order to:

- permit that the reduction in ecopoints may be spread over 4 years;

- modify the distribution key of ecopoints to share the reduction between the Member States;

- exceptionally for the year 2000, suspend the 108% threshold;

- introduce a sanction against Member States which have a high level of administrative waste;

- have the Commission undertake a study on transalpine combined transport services.

Article 3 lays down the implementation date of the Regulation.

Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No. 3298/94 of 21 December 1994 with regard to the system of ecopoints for heavy goods vehicles transiting through Austria

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden [2], and in particular Articles 11(2) and 16 of Protocol 9 thereto,

[2] OJ C241, 29.8.1994, p. 1

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in the abovementioned Protocol,

Whereas:

(1) Protocol No 9 of the Act of Accession provides for a special regime concerning the transit of heavy goods vehicles through Austrian territory based on a system of Rights of Transit (ecopoints). The distribution scale of ecopoints to the Member States is given by Annex 4 to the Protocol.

(2) Article 11(2)c of Protocol No 9 requires that the Commission shall adopt appropriate measures in accordance with paragraph 3 of Annex 5 thereto if the number of transit journeys through Austria requiring Ecopoints in a calendar year exceeds the reference figure established for 1991 by more than 8%;

(3) Paragraph 3 of Annex 5 to the Protocol lays down rules in order to establish a revised number of Ecopoints that shall be made available in case that the 1991 reference figure is exceeded.

(4) The threshold established in the abovementioned Article 11(2)c was exceeded in 1999. The application of the calculation method laid down by paragraph 3 of Annex 5 will lead to a reduction of the overall number of available ecopoints.

(5) Because of the desirability of gradually phasing in such a reduction, it is not reasonable that such a reduction shall occur in two consecutive years (1999 and 2000). The 8% threshold criteria should not apply in 2000.

(6) Bearing in mind that Protocol n°9 must be interpreted in the light of the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the EC Treaty, it is obvious that the imposition of the whole reduction of ecopoints solely in 2000 would have the disproportionate effect of stopping all transit traffic through Austria for some of the year. Such a situation would jeopardise the free movement of goods and affect the functioning of the Single Market. As a consequence, the reduction in the total number of ecopoints shall be spread over the four remaining years of the system of rights of transit, namely from the year 2000 to the year 2003.

(7) Proportionality of the reduction of Ecopoints also requires that those Member States who contributed most to the 8% threshold being exceeded shall have their allocations of ecopoints cut to ensure that the total reduction is met. This will require a revision of the distribution key of ecopoints to the Member States.

(8) To ensure the most efficient use of the available number of Ecopoints, measures shall be undertaken to further encourage Member States to return unused Ecopoints to the Commission for redistribution.

(9) More intensive use of rail freight in combined transport, in particular of the "Rollende Landstrasse", is less environmentally damaging than road freight and has the potential of relieving the pressure on the number of ecopoints available. Its more efficient use, inter alia by reviewing the way in which places are reserved, must be urgently promoted. The effects of such efforts should be monitored.

(10) Annex 4 of Protocol No 9 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 3298/94, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1524/96 should be amended accordingly.

(11) The Committee set up by Article 16 of Protocol No 9 did not deliver an opinion on the measures provided in the proposal. In accordance with Article 16(3) the Commission shall without delay submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex 4 of Protocol No. 9 to the Act of Accession of Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden is amended as follows:

"Year Percentage of ecopoints Ecopoints for EU-15

2000 47.0% 11 075 633

2001 45.7% 10 769 402

2002 42.0% 9 897 822

2003 39.1% 9 204 031

Article 2

Regulation (EC) No. 3298/94 is amended as follows:

1. Article 6(2) 2nd indent is replaced by the following:

"In the circumstances envisaged 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 the Protocol. The reduction of ecopoints thus calculated shall be spread over several years.

Because of the need to phase in such an additional reduction for the first time midway through 2000 Article 11(2)(c) shall, exceptionally, not apply to that year.".

2. The following paragraph is added to Article 7:

"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 Article 7(2). If the quantity not used is greater than 2 percent of a Member State's allocation of ecopoints that then 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."

3. The following Article 14b is added :

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.

4. Annex D is replaced by the following:

"Annex D

DISTRIBUTION OF ECOPOINTS 2000-2003

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Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

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

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President