WRITTEN QUESTION P-1924/03

by Benedetto Della Vedova (NI) to the Commission

(3 June 2003)

Subject: Violation of the agreement signed by Switzerland and the EU on 21 June 1999 on the transport of goods and passengers

The Swiss Federal Council established, by decree of 20 September 2002, a preferential treatment scheme for part of domestic HGV traffic. Thanks to these rules, Swiss vehicles travelling to or from southern Switzerland with a special authorisation and a yellow S sign on a red background can avoid the St Gotthard and St Bernard stopping areas (compulsory for all vehicles) and gain direct access to the tunnel, thereby considerably reducing waiting time. Moreover, these vehicles are not required to comply with the alternate one-way system in the St Bernard tunnel (as if safety problems did not apply to them).

Swiss drivers can in fact take advantage of this preferential treatment with regard not only to domestic travel, but also in most cases to travel to Italy and northern Europe since there is no actual check on the destination of the goods. In other words, Swiss hauliers travelling to Italy can save an average of 4-8 hours on each journey and plan their work programme in excellent conditions while respecting delivery times. Moreover, EU road hauliers wishing to deliver goods to southern Switzerland cannot possibly compete with local carriers since they do not enjoy the same advantages.

Does the Commission not consider that this decree is contrary to the EU-Switzerland agreement of 21 June 1999(1) on the transport of goods and passengers, in particular Article 32 thereof, which prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of the carrier's nationality, the vehicle's place of registration or destination?

(1) OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 91.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(25 June 2003)

The Swiss Federal Ordinance of 20 September 2002 referred to by the Honourable Member lays down a special scheme for certain domestic transport operations within Switzerland only and imposes a minimum fine of 500 Swiss francs for misuse of the S sign. Swiss hauliers importing and exporting goods do not benefit from the S scheme. According to the information available to the Commission, the Swiss police carry out rigorous checks which, together with the high fine, mean that the regulations are strictly adhered to.

The Commission has examined the regulations and concluded that there does not seem to be any discrimination within the meaning of the Agreement between the Community and Switzerland on land transport since Swiss hauliers carrying out cross-border haulage are affected by the S scheme in the same way as EU hauliers. In addition, the Agreement between the Community and Switzerland does not apply to Swiss domestic traffic (Article 2(1) of the Agreement). This haulage is therefore not covered by the Agreement.

Furthermore, the Ordinance specifies that the S scheme applies only for about 23 % of the year. During that period, about 15 % of lorries benefit from the scheme, the proportion of lorries which benefit from the S scheme during the year as a whole therefore being 3 to 5 %. It should also be pointed out that the alternating one-way traffic flow in the St Bernard tunnel also applies to heavy goods vehicles displaying the S sign.