Report from the Commission to the Council on the Transit of Goods by Road through Austria
Date: 1998-01-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Austria, carriage of goods, road transport, transit, transport policy

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 
type-approval 
trucks  built  before  October  1990  (for  which  no  recognised 
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 

5.555.371 

5.036.250 

4.579.113 

4.245.946 

2.352.108 

2.132.316 

1.938.767 

1.797.706 

O 

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 

NOTES: 

TRIPS MADE 

1993 

1994 

1995 

1996 

435.447 

501  820 

535540 

570.775 

379.968 
— 
63.267 

421.592 
— 
67.419 

493.330 

505.781 

147.974 

155.462 

100.783 

105.731 

17.002 

26.172 

15.414 

16.507 

45.034 

30.567 

38.857 

15.476 

20.207 

46.839 

40.661 

23.624 

1.684 
— 
3.373 

3.427 
— 
n/a 

39 

n/a 

2.566 
— 
4.835 

4.050 
--
n/a 

52 

n/a 

6.104 

9.817 

6.343 

4.161 

2.493 

n/a 

429 

n/a 

6.504 

7.054 

4.440 

3.840 

4.494 

n/a 

299 

n/a 

983.986 
— 

1.095.475 
— 

1.280.430 
1.440.714 

1.315.485 
1.482.495 

n/a  = See footnote 8 in text 

PERCENTAGE  CHANGE 

94/93 

95/94 

96/95 

96/93 

15,2% 

11.0% 
... 
6,6% 

-2,9% 

16,8% 

0,4% 

52,4% 

— 

43,3% 

18,2% 

— 
n/a 

6,7% 

17,0% 
... 
49,5% 

172,8% 

27,1% 

30,6% 

137,9% 
... 
31,2% 

2,7% 
... 
n/a 

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 

31,1% 

33,1% 
... 
67,1% 

175,5% 

55,4% 

53,3% 

286,2% 
... 
31,6% 

12,1% 
... 
n/a 

33,3% 

725,0% 

-30,3% 

666,7% 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

11,3% 
— 

16,9% 
... 

2,7% 
2,9% 

33,7% 
— 

1 

D 

A 

NL 

Ell 

DK 

B 

UK 

S 

F 

L 

Fin 

E 

Irl 

P 
TOTAL: 
Eur 12 
Eur 15 

Table 3 
Average number of ecopoints used per transit trip 

ECOPOINTS  PER  TRIP 

1993 

1994 

1995 

1996 

PERCENTAGE  CHANGE 

94/93 

95/94 

96/95 

96/93 

I 

D 

A 

NL 

Ell 

DK 

B 

UK 

S 

F 

L 

Fin 

E 

Irl 

P 

13,26 

11,86 

10,33 

9,02 

9,43 

8,99 

10,77 

10,07 

11,67 
— 
12,46 

11,68 

10,17 

15,60 

15,54 

15,13 

12,24 

10,78 

8,82 

12,84 

12,20 

10,09 

15,74 
— 
12,94 

10,30 
... 
n/a 

14,92 

12,14 

11,67 

9,83 

11,88 

10,71 

9,68 

9,29 

n/a 

8,08 

8,28 

n/a 

15,42 

15,22 

12,18 

12,69 
_ 
12,97 

15,65 

13,40 

13,81 

15,60 
... 
13,89 

10,93 
... 
n/a 

15,28 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

1 

D 

A 

NL 

Ell 

DK 

B 

UK 

S 

F 

L 

Fin 

E 

Irl 

P 

-10,6% 

-12,9% 

-12,7% 

-8,0% 
... 
-3,9% 

-0,3% 

-8,7% 

-7,0% 

0,9% 
... 
-6.8% 

-5,8% 

— 
n/a 

0,9% 

n/a 

-7,7% 
... 
-6,3% 

-0,4% 

-12,4% 

-10,7% 

-12,9% 

-2,6% 

-11,9% 

-18,2% 

-5,0% 

-17,3% 

-5,2% 
... 
-8,2% 

-6,0% 
... 
n/a 

-18,6% 

-15,8% 

-9,8% 

-16,5% 

-10,9% 

n/a 

-1,3% 

-20,0% 

n/a 

n/a 

-32,0% 

-25,7% 
... 
-21,6% 

-3,3% 

-34,2% 

-26,9% 

-22,2% 
... 
-22,9% 

-26,1% 
--
n/a 

-20,3% 

n/a 

EU Average 

13,08 

11,92 

10,81 

9,47 

EU Average 

-8,9% 

-9,3% 

-12,4% 

-27,6% 

EU target 

13,35 

12,08 

10,89 

9,88 

%  Better 
than target 

2,0% 

1,3% 

0,7% 

4 , 1% 

NOTES: 

n/a  = See footnote  8 in text 

// 

Table 4 

Ecopoints used per truck 

Ecopoints  used 

1993 

1994 

1995 

1996 

Ecopoints  used 

NUMBER  OF TRIPS  MADE 

< =5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

628 

443 

1280 

875 

2346 

6718 

2313 

47971 

1521 

16540 

128680 

345704 

189440 

354347 

578304 

614316 

79403 

121422 

140771 

111274 

46208 

10093 

66668 

25477 

50234 

7772 

14020 

21596 

16607 

12201 

12157 

71968 

67913 

24781 

20653 

47355 

40678 

7164 

38399 

11117 

23305 

8101 

7100 

4707 

506099 

422585 

413798 

259618 

t o t al  t r i ps  983986 

1095475  1440714 

1482495 

< =5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

Proportion of trips 

1993 

0 , 1% 

0,0% 

0,2% 

1994 

0 , 1% 

0 , 1% 

1,5% 

1995 

0,2% 

0.5% 

8,9% 

1996 

0,2% 

3,2% 

23,3% 

19,3% 

32,3% 

4 0 , 1% 

41,4% 

8 , 1% 

4,7% 

1,0% 

6,8% 

2,6% 

5 , 1% 

0,8% 

1 1 , 1% 

1,3% 

1,1% 

6,6% 

2,3% 

4,3% 

0,7% 

9,8% 

1,0% 

0,8% 

4,7% 

1,4% 

2,8% 

0,5% 

7,5% 

1.5% 

0,5% 

2,6% 

0,7% 

1,6% 

0,3% 

51,4% 

38,6% 

28,7% 

17,5% 

TABLE 5 
Ecopolnt  Use by Member  State 

BELGIUM 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 
434.006 
-110.000 
212.830 

1994 
392.531 
-100.000 
198.738 

1995 
354.019 
-30.000 
246.550 

1996 
320.938 
-10.000 
238.470 

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 

OENMARK 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 
540.839 
-50.578 
350.793 

1994 
489.154 
0 
374.094 

1995 
441.162 
15.000 
418.808 

1996 
399.938 
20.000 
358.690 

NETHERLANDS 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 

1994 
1.649.224  1.491.619 
-115.000 
-300.000 
839.705 
820.631 

1995 

1996 
1.345.271  1.219.563 
-10.000 
1.177.033  1.075.147 

-20.000 

GERMANY 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 

1994 

1996 
6.443.324  5.827.579  5 255.817  4.764.688 
100.000 
4.821.539  4.919.037  5.314.623  4.767.712 

-200.000 

-663.658 

331.000 

1995 

AUSTRIA 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 

1994 

1995 

1996 
2.352.108  2.132.316 
-266.000 
-180.574 
1.489.931  1.398.163 

GREECE 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 
807.919 
-202.781 
266.007 

1994 
730.712 
-235.615 
257.542 

1995 
659 020 
142.574 
699.928 

1996 
597.438 
186.683 
708.886 

PORTUGAL 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 
5.342 
-3.774 
n/a 

1994 
4.831 
-1.405 
n/a 

SPAIN 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

FRANCE 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

IRELAND 
National  allocation 
Additional ecopoints  received 
Ecopoints  used 

ITALY 
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 

1993 

1994 

1996 
6.810.560  6.159.721  5.555 371  5 036.250 
266.552 
5.775.582  5.949.522  5.533.606  5.145.608 

306.755 

251000 

-97.194 

1995 

FINLAND 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

SWEDEN 
National allocation 
Additional ecopoints received 
Ecopoints used 

1993 

1994 

1993 

1994 

UNITED  KINGDOM 
National allocation 
Additional  ecopoints  received 
Ecopoints  used 

1993 
113.509 
-62.407 
26.270 

1994 
102.662 
-25.000 
40.385 

E.U.15 
National  allocation 
Ecopoints returned to EU Reserve 
Ecopoints distributed from EU Reserve 
Ecopoints  used 

1995 
4.357 
0 
n/a 

1995 
50.371 
-6.000 
23.164 

1995 
82.127 
30.000 
114.528 

1995 
9.590 
20.000 
91.076 

1996 
3.950 
0 
n/a 

1996 
45.664 
0 
37.211 

1996 
74.452 
10.000 
69.634 

1996 
83.938 
5.000 
78.935 

1995 

1996 
16.325.105  14.799.610: 
290.500 
508.800 
15.576.061  14.036.529 

238.! 74 
830.279 

NOTES: 
n/a  = See footnote 8 in text 
Negative values in the table denotes  the number of ecopoints  returned to the EU Reserve. 

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 

/s