WRITTEN QUESTION P-2470/01 by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission. Environmental protection measures applying to heavy vehicle traffic in the Alpine region.
Date: 2001-09-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Alpine Region, combined transport, commercial vehicle, common transport policy, environmental protection, road transport, tunnel

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/181

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(28 September 2001)

The Commission can confirm the statements contained in its reply to Question E-814/01 from
Mr Gobbo (1), in particular with regard to the non-inclusion of the (cid:145)Dorsale d(cid:146)Alemagna(cid:146) road link in the
trans-European transport network.

The Commission considers that the issue of whether this link should be included in the network raises the
more general question of what is appropriate transport policy in areas such as the Alps, which are traffic
bottlenecks and at the same time have a highly sensitive environment. In view of the forecasts for growth
in road traffic and the risks this poses to the Alpine valleys and their inhabitants, a highly sensitive issue in
some countries of the region such as Austria, the Commission considers that shifting the balance in favour
of rail transport is a high priority in the Alps, at least as regards transit and long-distance traffic.

This is why the White Paper on the common transport policy, adopted by the Commission on
12 September 2001 (2), devotes particular attention to sensitive areas, particularly in the context of the
policy on infrastructure charging and funding and on the trans-European network.

Furthermore, in June 2001, the Heads of State and Government meeting at the Gothenburg European
Council called on the Community institutions to adopt revised guidelines on the development of the trans-
inland waterways, short-sea shipping and
European transport network, giving priority to the railways,
intermodal operations. Consequently, the imminent legislative proposal on amending the guidelines is
likely to focus primarily on these transport modes.

Consequently, the development of road networks that do not already figure in the Community guidelines
adopted by Parliament and the Council
in 1996, e.g. the Alemagna link, should be considered on a
national basis and in the context of transfrontier cooperation between the countries concerned, since they
concern infrastructure close to the Austrian-Italian border.

With regard to other inland transport infrastructure projects in the Alps, the Commission still considers
that the absolute priority is to implement and take into service as soon as possible the two railway
corridors already identified in the 1996 guidelines, namely the Brenner route and the Lyon-Turin corridor.

Finally, with regard to the Transport Protocol to the Alpine Convention, the Commission has been
informed that the proposal for signature it presented at the beginning of 2001 is currently being studied
by the Council with a view to possible conclusion of the procedure under the current Belgian Presidency.

(1) OJ C 318 E, 13.11.2001, p. 126.
(2) COM(2001) 370 final.

(2002/C 81 E/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2470/01

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 September 2001)

Subject: Environmental protection measures applying to heavy vehicle traffic in the Alpine region

Until 2003 heavy vehicles belonging to companies based in EU Member States will be subject
to
restrictions when moving in transit through Austrian territory. The system is based on the payment of
ecopoints, which vary according to the environment-friendliness of the vehicles, and its object is to reduce
the pollution that they cause. Restrictions on TIR traffic are also in force on Swiss territory. Under the
agreement between the EU and Switzerland the weight limit for lorries is to be raised initially to 34 tonnes
and later, from 2005, to 40 tonnes. Pending that liberalisation Switzerland issues a limited number of
licences to the EU for TIR vehicles up to 40 tonnes on payment of an ecotax, which is being reinvested in
the projected new Swiss railway lines.

C 81 E/182

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.4.2002

Nothing comparable to the Austrian and Swiss restrictions applies at present to road traffic crossing from
France into Italy and vice versa. The result can currently be seen on the FrØjus tunnel route, which has
been hopelessly congested since the closure of the Mont Blanc tunnel.

The fact that the Mont Blanc tunnel is due to reopen by the end of this year has revived discussion on the
question whether TIR traffic should be allowed to pass through the tunnel or, at the very least, vehicle
numbers restricted. Mrs Loyola de Palacio has already commented on this subject in her answer to a
previous Written Question (P-0304/01 (1)).

Not least in the light of the (cid:145)transport(cid:146) Protocol to the Alpine Convention, does the Commission not
believe that specific measures should likewise be laid down for the Mont Blanc and FrØjus tunnels to serve
the same purpose as the restrictions now in force in Austria and Switzerland?

(1) OJ C 261 E, 18.9.2001, p. 83.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(1 October 2001)

After several years of negotiations, the Transport Protocol of the Alpine Convention was finally agreed and
signed in October 2000 by alpine countries including those Member States whose territories include the
Alpine region.

Subsequently, the Commission made a proposal to the Council
Transport Protocol on behalf of the Community (1).

in early 2001 for signature of the

This proposal is now being discussed in the Council, with a view to completing the procedure under the
Belgian Presidency. The relevant ratification procedures will then have to be completed for the Transport
Protocol to enter into force.

One important provision in the Protocol is included in its Article 11, which restricts the construction of
new large roads for transalpine traffic. Such provision is consistent with the common policies for transport
and the transeuropean transport network, which aim,
inter alia, at revitalizing rail transport and rail
infrastructure and fostering a modal shift from road to rail, inland waterway and maritime transport.

The idea of charging heavy road traffic in order to contribute to the construction of
transport
infrastructure dedicated to environmentally-friendly transport modes is envisaged in the White Paper on a
common transport policy agreed by the Commission on 12 September 2001 (2).

In that respect, it is proposed that the current Community rules, notably Directive 1999/62/EC of the
Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of
certain infrastructures (3) ((cid:145)Eurovignette(cid:146)), need to be replaced by a modern framework for infrastructure-use
charging systems so as to ensure fair competition between transport modes and avoiding distortions of the
internal market.

The Commission shall
introduce in 2002 a proposal for a Directive covering this new infrastructure
charging policy, which, if agreed by Parliament and Council, could be applied in the whole Community
territory, including the alpine zone where the Mont-Blanc and Frejus tunnels are operated.

Indeed, in the context of the Trans-European Transport network, the Commission attaches a very high
priority to the completion of the specific rail projects crossing the Alps, namely the Lyon-Turin and the
Brenner axis, which will offer an alternative to road transport

(1) COM(2001) 18 final.
(2) COM(2001) 370 final.
(3) OJ L 187, 20.7.1999.