WRITTEN QUESTION E-1736/01 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Use of the Swiss financing system to encourage a switch from road to rail freight transport.
Date: 2001-06-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Switzerland, carriage of goods, combined transport, common transport policy, environmental protection, transport infrastructure, transport price, tunnel

C 40 E/92

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.2.2002

The conclusions of the Report were that the 1996 Council recommendation did not match expectations.
The persistent under-representation of women in all areas of decision-making marks a fundamental
democratic deficit, which requires further Community level action. However, no one strategy was singled
out for recommendation. Rather a comprehensive approach is necessary: long-term political commitment,
sound data, regular monitoring, appropriate structures and the commitment of financial resources.

In October 1999, the Finnish Presidency drew up a set of nine indicators for measuring the progress
3.
of women(cid:146)s participation in political decision-making, at national, regional and local
level and in key
administrations. On 27-28 November 2000 the Council took note of the Presidency(cid:146)s report and in its
agreed conclusions the Council encouraged the Member States to make statistics available on the proposed
indicators on an annual basis.

The promotion of women in decision-making in all fields of society has been a core objective of the
Community Action Programmes for equal opportunities for women and men since 1991.

Equal participation and representation of women and men is one of the core objectives of the strategy. The
actions envisaged by the Commission under the framework strategy on gender equality 2001-2005 focus
including activities in
on work to promote women in political, economic and social decision-making,
external relations and development co-operation.

In Recommendation 96/694, the Council recommends that Member States,

4.
(cid:145)adopt a
comprehensive, integrated strategy designed to promote balanced participation of women and men in the
decision-making process and develop or introduce the appropriate measures to achieve this, such as, where
necessary, legislative and/or regulatory measures and/or incentives(cid:146).

inter alia,

At present, gender balance in decision-making does not fall within the competence of the Court of
5.
Justice. Accordingly, there is no basis on which an individual might seek to have the issue arising in Sicily
brought before the Court.

(1) COM(2000) 120 final.

(2002/C 40 E/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1736/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Use of the Swiss financing system to encourage a switch from road to rail freight transport

1.
Can the Commission confirm that, partly on the basis of the agreements between Switzerland and
the European Union which the European Parliament approved on 14 December 2000, which increase the
scope for freight to be carried through Switzerland by road, a system is now in use in Switzerland whereby
the size of the toll levied on heavy goods vehicles (cid:129) the (cid:145)Leistungsabh(cid:228)ngige Schwerverkehrsabgabe(cid:146) (cid:129)
depends partly on the distance travelled, the weight of the load and the vehicle(cid:146)s emissions, and that the
revenue from the tolls is being used to finance the bulk of the cost of building freight railway lines and
tunnels for them through the Alps?

2.
Can the Commission confirm that the method described at 1 above could substantially influence the
way in which freight is transported between places outside the area through which it passes, and that in
principle the same system could also be used in areas where there are no natural barriers to transport, such
as mountain ranges or major watercourses?

3.
How could a similar system within the Member States of the European Union be promoted as a way
of combating the constant growth of road haulage and thus providing alternatives to the pressure to
sacrifice more and more open space by widening roads and building new ones?

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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To what extent could the methods which have been developed inter alia in the Netherlands for

4.
taxing commuters for travelling individually by car be used to regulate long-distance freight transport?

5. What obstacles arising from European legislation ought possibly yet to be eliminated in order in
significant measure to achieve the effect referred to at 3 above?

6. What national regulations in the Member States might still prevent the wide application of the Swiss
model?

7. Will the Commission promote change along the above lines?

Source: De Volkskrant (Dutch newspaper) of 21 May 2001

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

The Commission is aware that the Swiss government has put in place a road charging system on heavy
goods vehicles based on the kilometres driven ((cid:145)leistungsabh(cid:228)ngige Schwerverkehrsabgabe(cid:146)) and that a
significant part of the revenues of this system are assigned to the financing of rail freight infrastructure
investment projects as well as to the construction of transalpine tunnels. The Community-Swiss Agreement
on freight and passenger transport by rail and road which is still awaiting ratification by some Member
States allows and lays down a number of key elements of such a road charging system for both Swiss and
Community traffic.

The Commission is indeed of the opinion that distance related road-charging systems, similar to the Swiss
one, can have an overall positive effect on the rationalisation of road transport demand both for the
regions of transit as well as those where the traffic originates or ends. In its upcoming White Paper on the
Common Transport Policy the Commission will
launch also a discussion on innovative transport
infrastructure financing methods. One of the options is indeed the (cid:145)Swiss model(cid:146), i.e. using the revenues
of
infrastructure charging schemes of competing modes for the financing of new infrastructure of
environmentally friendly transport modes such as rail. Such a cross financing could be applicable within a
region, for instance characterised by natural barriers such as mountains or by environmental sensibility.

The introduction of such distance based charging systems could be facilitated through an increased
awareness of Member States(cid:146)policy makers, authorities, transport operators and general public of the
results obtained by the implementation of the Swiss system. Also, a closer exchange of information
between Member States about their own needs and plans, regarding the evolution of traffic and its
management, is likely to lead to the realisation that distance based charging systems could provide a better
in turn, would reduce the pressure for new (or wider) roads.
use of existing infrastructure. This,
Furthermore, there are obstacles of legal, technical or organisational nature that need to be thoroughly
examined and resolved at national level before such distance based charging systems could be introduced.
Finally, realistic alternatives to road transport need to exist in order for a road charging system to be
acceptable and effective.

The approach envisaged by the Dutch government addresses road congestion through the charging of daily
commuter traffic in densely populated regions in the Netherlands. It cannot directly be applied to reducing
environmental nuisances through long-distance freight transport activities.

At Community level a policy mix has to be deployed in order to tackle the problems caused by rising road
haulage volumes in the Community. Such a policy mix aiming at re-balancing the modal split has several
strands such as stimulating the rail service market, for instance, through the market opening policy that
the Community pursues. The Commission also considers a fair and efficient infrastructure pricing policy
for all modes vital for accompanying the policy of market opening in the transport sector. Furthermore, a
sensible policy of support
to develop the Trans-European Networks infrastructure and to alleviate
bottlenecks can contribute significantly to rendering the European transport system more efficient and
environmentally sustainable.