Commission Regulation (EC) No 609/2000 of 21 March 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 3298/94 laying down detailed measures concerning the system of rights of transit (ecopoints) for heavy-goods vehicles transiting through Austria (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2000-03-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Austria, enlargement of the Union, intra-EU transport, road transport, transit, vehicle documents

22.3.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 73/9

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 609/2000

of 21 March 2000

amending Regulation (EC) No 3298/94 laying down detailed measures concerning the system of
rights of transit (ecopoints) for heavy-goods vehicles transiting through Austria

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Article 1

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and
Sweden, and in particular Article 11(6) and Annex 4 to
Protocol 9 thereto,

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

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

ECMT permits valid in Austria should allow free transit
through Austria.

Clear rules for the cancellation of ecocards are required.
The used ecocards are needed for statistical purposes.

The optimal use of electronic ecopoints is best achieved
by distributing them several times during the year.

A vehicle setting down or picking up a complete load in
Austria should be considered to have undertaken a bilat-
eral
journey and thus should not be required to pay
ecopoints, irrespective of the route taken by the vehicle
to enter and exist Austia.

The implementation of an agreement to allow 40 tonne
lorries to transit Switzerland will alleviate the number of
lorries transiting Austria. Due to the geographical posi-
tion of Italy and Greece,
lorries going to/from those
countries will still need to transit Austria. Greece and
Italy should be given further priority over unused
ecopoints returned to the Commission.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 3298/94 (1), as amen-
ded by Regulation (EC) No 1524/96 (2), should be amen-
ded accordingly.

1. In Article 1, the following paragraph 1a is inserted:

‘1a.
Transit journeys made in the circumstances listed in
Annex C or under ECMT authorisations that are valid on
Austrian territory shall be exempt
from the ecopoints
system.’

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

Unless a vehicle is using an ecotag,

‘1.
the requisite
number of ecopoints shall be affixed to the ecocard and
cancelled. The ecocard shall be cancelled by any one of the
following methods:

(a) stamping the ecocard in an ecocard stamping machine;

(b) having the ecocard stamped by the Austrian border

control authorities upon entering Austria;

(c) having the ecocard stamped and dated by the national
authorities of the haulier before entering Austrian terri-
tory;

(d) having the ecocard stamped at an office where the

initialisation of ecotags is performed.

Austrian frontier stations that are equipped with an ecocard
stamping machine are listed in Annex H.

For statistical purposes page 1 of the completed ecocard
shall either be collected by the Austrian authorities or subse-
quently returned by the competent authorities within three
months of the completion of the journey to the Austrian
authorities. The statistics thus collected shall assist
the
Commission in making any proposal for the distribution the
reserve of ecopoints.’

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the committee set up by
Article 16 of Protocol 9,

3. In Article 5(5), the following point (d) is added:

(1) OJ L 341, 30.12.1994, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 190, 31.7.1996, p. 13.

‘(d) or the ecocard has not been cancelled in accordance

with the procedure laid down in Article 2(1).’

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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4. In Article 6, the following paragraph 3 is added:

‘3.
The electronic ecopoints shall be made available each
year to Member States in three equal instalments: the first
instalment before 1 November of the preceding year, the
second instalment before 1 March and the third instalment
before 1 July.’

5. Article 14 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 14
A journey shall be deemed to be exempt from the payment
of ecopoints if the vehicle either sets down or picks up its
complete load in Austria and the vehicle carries suitable

documentation to demonstrate this, irrespective of the route
taken by the vehicle to enter and exist Austria.’

6. Annex E is replaced by the text set out in Annex I to this

Regulation.

7. Annex H, set out in Annex II to this Regulation, is added.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the 20th 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, 21 March 2000.

For the Commission

Loyola DE PALACIO

Vice-President

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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ANNEX I

‘ANNEX E

ECOPOINT REDISTRIBUTION CRITERIA

The special position of Greece and Italy

Of the Community reserve of 3,34 % of the total number of ecopoints, a proportion of ecopoints equivalent to 4 874 of
the units set out in Annex D shall be allocated to Italy and 576 of the units set out in Annex D to Greece, on a priority
basis.

Furthermore, all necessary efforts shall be made to ensure that the share of ecopoints allocated to Greece takes sufficient
account of Greek needs.

The effect of German reunification

In addition, a proportion of ecopoints equivalent to 6 444 if the units set out in Annex D shall be allocated to Germany
from the Community reserve.

The redistribution of ecopoints returned by Austria

All Austrian ecopoints returned to the Commission for redistribution shall be redistributed to Member States requesting
additional ecopoints in proportion to the use made by heavy-goods vehicles registered in Member States of the “Rollende
Landstraße” in Austria.

Upon the coming into force of the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the
carriage of goods and passengers by rail and road, the distribution of ecopoints returned by Austria shall be as follows:

of the Austrian ecopoints returned for distribution to the Commission, 30 % shall be allocated to Greece and 30 % to
Italy, on a priority basis. The remaining ecopoints returned by Austria shall be distributed to Member States asking for
additional ecopoints in proportion to the use made by heavy-goods vehicles registered in Member States of the “Rollende
Landstraße” in Austria.

The number of ecopoints allocated to Member States, the number actually used by them and the average NO
x
figures for transiting vehicles from Member States

The remaining ecopoints shall be distributed to Member States requesting additional ecopoints proportional to a
coefficient that is defined for each Member State as follows:

— number of ecopoints deemed necessary, based on extrapolation of the most recent statistics from Austria,

— multiplied by the proportion of ecopoints allocated to a member State that were actually used by that Member State

the previous year,

— multiplied by the most recent average NO

x figures for transit vehicles from the Member State, as a percentage of the

target figure for the year.’

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ANNEX II

‘ANNEX H

Austrian border stations equipped with an ecocard-stamping machine

Achenkirch

Arnoldstein

Braunau

Brennerpaß

Ehrwald

Hangendenstein

Hörbranz

Kiefersfelden

Musau

Nauders

Neuhaus

Pinswang

Reit im Winkel

Saalbrücke

Scharnitz

Schleching

Sillian

Springen

Suben

Steinpaß

Walserberg

Wegscheid’