WRITTEN QUESTION E-3818/02 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. The competitive position of public transport and the effect of taxation of fuels, infrastructure and ticket sales.
Date: 2003-01-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: competition, environmental policy, environmental tax, international organisation, means of public conveyance, motor car, motor fuel, substitute fuel, sustainable mobility, tax system

C 242 E/76

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

committee which co-ordinates and supervises project preparation. This committee played a decisive role in
the process towards the setting-up of a Brenner Base Tunnel European Economic Interest Grouping (BBT
EEIG) (cid:1) the independent project authority in charge of the studies that aim at the development consent
for the tunnel (technical, environmental, geological, economical). Amongst the areas studied by BBT are
also legal/financial options for project implementation (to be proposed to the governments concerned for
decision).

Besides its advisory and stimulating role throughout the past years, the Commission has co-financed the
above studies at 50 % of their cost in the framework of the trans-European transport network. Provided the
forthcoming study phase (detailed technical, environmental and geological studies, to be launched in 2003)
will go ahead as planned, the Commission intends to grant further significant financial aid.

(1) COM(2001) 370 final.

(2003/C 242 E/080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3818/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 January 2003)

Subject: The competitive position of public transport and the effect of taxation of fuels, infrastructure and

ticket sales

1.
Is the Commission aware of the request by the EU Committee of the Union Internationale des
Transports Publics (UITP) concerning its document 10979/02 of 22 July 2002 on climate protection and
harmonisation of energy taxes, which draws attention to the importance of public transport in protecting
the environment and the financial obstacles which such transport is likely to encounter if it is treated on a
par with car transport for purposes of taxation?

2.
Does the Commission agree with the UITP’s prognosis that the competitive position of public
transport will deteriorate because it is already the case in nine of the 15 EU Member States, and from
2007 will be the case in all of them, that diesel fuel for public transport in urban areas may no longer be
exempted from tax, while moreover urban tram and underground train networks are not regarded as
railways, for which exceptions may be made?

3.
Does the Commission consider that, even now, electricity, natural gas and LPG can render the use of
diesel fuel in urban public transport completely superfluous, and that moreover it is impossible to achieve
the same environmental effect using modern diesel technology as with natural gas or LPG, so that from the
point of view of environmental protection it is defensible permanently to place diesel at a disadvantage and
to ban it?

4.
If it is unavoidable that diesel should continue to play a part in urban public transport for the time
being, how will the Commission prevent the public transport which uses it from being placed at a
competitive disadvantage in relation to motorised private transport, which is far more damaging to the
environment?

5. What other taxes help to prevent the expansion of public transport, such as VAT and levies on
infrastructure, and to what extent do they differ between Member States?

6. What else will the Commission do in the field of harmonisation of taxation in EU Member States to
give public transport an advantage over air transport and motorised private road transport?

9.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 242 E/77

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2003)

The Commission is aware of UITP’s position paper. It shares UITP’s view that environmental objectives
demand a growing role for public transport.

The Commission does not share UITP’s view that public transport operators’ competitive position will
necessarily worsen as a result of changes in energy taxation.

At present, Member States may exempt public transport operators from excise duties on mineral oils, or
reduce the rate of the duties. After 2007, the situation will depend on the draft Directive on the taxation
of energy products (1) which is currently under consideration. Regardless of the final outcome of this
process, it is important to emphasise that the key determinant of public transport operators’ competitive
position is not their fuel costs but the use they make of their most important and costly asset (cid:1) their staff.
In many cases there is a good deal of room for improvement here. The Commission’s draft Regulation (2)
on public services in public transport will, if adopted, encourage this.

Many public transport services receive financial compensation from public authorities. In one sample of 24
cities in the Member States, this covered 48 % of operating costs. In general, this compensation should
increase if taxation of fuel raises the cost of providing the services. The proceeds of the taxation could be
used to cover this cost.

The Commission does not consider that electricity, natural gas and Liquified Petroleum Gas can render the
use of diesel fuel in urban public transport completely superfluous for the time being. The Commission’s
objective for 2020 is to replace 20 % of the diesel and petrol used for road transport with alternative fuels.
The new fuels should enhance security of supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions without increasing
emissions of pollutants. The Commission believes that biofuels, natural gas and hydrogen will play the
biggest part. The question of the proportion of these fuels that will be consumed by (a) specialised urban
vehicles such as buses and (b) ordinary cars and lorries needs more study. So does the question of the
impact on emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants of a switch from diesel to natural gas. The
Commission has asked an Alternative Fuels Contact Group (of which UITP is a member) to advise on these
questions among others. A first report is expected in the coming months. However, the Commission
believes it unlikely that diesel will cease to be an important fuel for buses in the medium term.

The Member States have adopted a wide range of taxes that affect public transport operators and
competing modes of transport such as cars. According to the information available to the Commission,
notably a study led by Oscar Faber in 2000, certain tax provisions provide incentives for sustainable
mobility while others provide disincentives.

Charges and taxes identified by the study that promote the development of public transport include
employee taxes; property taxes, developer levies; parking charges; road user charges, local motor taxes, and
consumption taxes.

In the case of VAT, Member States have the right to subject passenger transport companies to a reduced
rate or exempt them altogether.

The Commission does not intend to submit a specific proposal on the taxation of aircraft fuel, as in its
opinion this issue is sufficiently covered by its proposal on taxation of energy products.

(1) OJ C 139, 6.5.1997.
(2) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.