Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Annex XIII (Transport) to the EEA Agreement - Draft common position of the Community

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. In order to ensure the requisite legal security and homogeneity, the EEA Joint Committee is to integrate all the relevant legislation into the EEA Agreement as soon as possible after its adoption.

2. The EEA Joint Committee should therefore adopt the attached decision to amend Annex XIII to the EEA Agreement (Transport) by including Directive 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructure and by replacing Council Directive 93/89/EEC.

3. The decision takes account of the following facts concerning Liechtenstein: i) Switzerland has introduced, as from 1 January 2001, a Heavy Vehicle Fee (toll) on all roads, as taken note of in the Agreement on Land Transport with the European Community signed on 21 June 1999, to be levied at the border posts on the base of the kilometres driven and the vehicle characteristics; ii) Liechtenstein, by virtue of its Customs Union with Switzerland, has no border posts at its border with Switzerland; to be in the position to keep the common border open, Liechtenstein introduced, also on 1 January 2001, on its territory, a Heavy Vehicle Fee (toll) on all roads which is based on a Bilateral Agreement between Liechtenstein and Switzerland and on Liechtenstein law and which is equal to the Swiss Heavy Vehicle Fee; iii) the Heavy Vehicle Fee should be adjusted to bring it in line with Directive 1999/62/EC for the purpose of its application to Liechtenstein; iv) for the purpose of simplicity, the adjustment of the Heavy Vehicle Fee should bemade in a global way and therefore take the form of a flat reduction in the number of kilometres to be used in the computation of the toll levied in Liechtenstein; v) this flat reduction is set at three kilometres, which correspond to approximately half the shortest distance between the Liechtenstein/Austrian border of Schaanwald/Tisis and the nearest Liechtenstein/Swiss border.

4. As a consequence, the decision stipulates that "As of 1 January 2001, Liechtenstein may levy a toll (Heavy Vehicle Fee) to the level set in Switzerland for the same vehicle category and according to the same system as in Switzerland. As of the entry into force of this Decision, the number of kilometres to be considered in the computation of the toll to be paid will be based on the total kilometres driven, reduced by three kilometres, for each crossing of the Liechtenstein/Austrian border in Schaanwald/Tisis."

5. The decision takes also account of the specific arrangements of the Norwegian road system and therefore allows Norway to impose tolls and user charges on vehicles using a wider range of road categories than stipulated in the Directive. This follows an identical adaptation in relation to Council Directive 93/89/EEC the reason of which is that, because of the technical characteristics of the road network in Norway, tolls are in certain cases used as a supplementary means of financing important infrastructure projects, mainly bridges and tunnels.

6. Article 1(3)(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning the arrangements for implementing the EEA Agreement envisages that the Council establishes the Community position for decisions extending Community legislation with substantial changes.

7. The Council is requested to approve the attached draft decision for adoption by the EEA Joint Committee.

Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Annex XIII (Transport) to the EEA Agreement

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as amended by the Protocol adjusting the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as 'the Agreement', and in particular 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Annex XIII to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No ... of ... [1].

[1] OJ ...

(2) 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 charges for the use of certain infrastructure [2] was incorporated into the Agreement by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 7/94 [3].

[2] OJ L 279, 12.11.1993, p. 32.

[3] OJ L 160, 28.6.1994, p. 1.

(3) The Court of Justice of the European Communities annulled Council Directive 93/89/EEC on 5 July 1995.

(4) The effects of Council Directive 93/89/EEC were preserved in the European Communities until the Council had adopted a new Directive.

(5) Directive 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructure [4] was therefore adopted.

[4] OJ L 187, 20.7.1999, p. 42.

(6) Directive 1999/62/EC is to be incorporated into the Agreement.

(7) Council Directive 93/89/EEC is consequently to be deleted from the Agreement.

(8) Norway may, in light of the specific arrangements of its road system, impose tolls and user charges on vehicles using a wider range of road categories than stipulated in the Directive.

(9) Switzerland has introduced, as from 1 January 2001, a Heavy Vehicle Fee (toll) on all roads, as taken note of in the Agreement on Land Transport with the European Community signed on 21 June 1999, to be levied at the border posts on the base of the kilometres driven and the vehicle characteristics.

(10) Liechtenstein, by virtue of its Customs Union Treaty with Switzerland, has no border posts at its border with Switzerland; to be in the position to keep the common border open Liechtenstein has introduced, also on 1 January 2001, on its territory, a Heavy Vehicle Fee (toll) on all roads, which is based on a Bilateral Agreement between Liechtenstein and Switzerland and on Liechtenstein law and which is equal to the Swiss Heavy Vehicle Fee.

(11) Directive 1999/62/EC allows charges (tolls) to be imposed on the highest category of roads when in a Member State there exists no general network of motorways [article 7 2,a] and therefore Liechtenstein, which does not have a general network of motorways, may impose charges (tolls) on its highest category of roads.

(12) However it is not possible to determine the kilometres driven in Liechtenstein on the highest category of roads.

(13) Directive 1999/62/EC requires that charges (toll tariffs) are based on infrastructure costs [article 7 9] .

(14) The Heavy Vehicle Fee tariffs have been set on the basis of Swiss infrastructure costs, which are different from infrastructure costs in Liechtenstein.

(15) Therefore the Heavy Vehicle Fee should be adjusted to bring it in line with Directive 1999/62/EC for the purpose of its application to Liechtenstein.

(16) For the purpose of simplicity, the adjustment of the Heavy Vehicle Fee should be made in a global way and therefore take the form of a flat reduction in the number of kilometres to be used in the computation of the toll levied in Liechtenstein,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The text of point 18a of Annex XIII to the Agreement shall be replaced by the following:

'399 L 0062: Directive 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructure (OJ L 187, 20.7.1999, p. 42).'

The provisions of the Directive shall, for the purposes of the present Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

(a) The following shall be added to Article 3(1):

'- Iceland: Þungaskattur,

- Liechtenstein: Motorfahrzeugsteuer,

- Norway: Vektårsavgift.'

(b) In the situation referred to in Article 8(1), regarding EFTA States, 'Commission' shall read 'EFTA Surveillance Authority'.

(c) Regarding the EFTA States, Article 6 shall be replaced by the following:

'The EFTA States shall continue to apply their existing provisions referred to in Article 3(1) so as to ensure that competition is not distorted, i.e. that the rate for each vehicle category or subcategory referred to in Annex I to the Directive is not lower than the minimum laid down in the Annex.

Without prejudice to Article 6 of Council Directive 92/106/EEC of 7 December 1992, the EFTA States may not grant any exemption from, or reduction in, the taxes referred to in Article 3 which would distort competition, i.e. which would render the chargeable tax lower than the minimum referred to in the previous paragraph.'

(d) The following subparagraph shall be added at the end of Article 7(2)(a):

'In the case of Norway, tolls and user charges may also be imposed on specific secondary roads. In the case of Liechtenstein, tolls and user charges may be imposed on the highest category of roads, according to the provisions of Paragraph (f) below.'

(e) The following shall be added to Article 7(2)(b):

'Regarding EFTA States, the prior consultations referred to above shall be held with the EFTA Surveillance Authority. '

(f) The following shall be added at the end of Article 7(9):

'As of 1 January 2001 Liechtenstein may levy a toll (Heavy Vehicle Fee) to the level set in Switzerland for the same vehicle category and according to the same system as in Switzerland. As of entry into force of this Decision, the number of kilometers to be considered in the computation of the toll to be paid will be based on the total kilometers driven, reduced by three kilometers for each crossing of the Liechtenstein/Austrian border in Schaanwald/Tisis.

If the volume of traffic at the border post in Schaanwald/Tisis increases disproportionately in comparison with other border posts in the region by attracting detour traffic, Liechtenstein, after consultation with and the approval by the Joint Committee may reduce the deduction of three kilometers at the Schaanwald/Tisis border.'

Article 2

The texts of Directive 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council in the Icelandic and Norwegian languages, to be published in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities, shall be authentic.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on [date] 2001, provided that all the notifications under Article 103(1) of the Agreement have been made to the EEA Joint Committee. [5]

[5] No constitutional requirements indicated/Constitutional requirements indicated.

Article 4

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels, [date] 2001.

For the EEA Joint Committee

The President

The Secretaries to the EEA Joint Committee