WRITTEN QUESTION E-1662/03 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Tailored toll system.
Date: 2003-05-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Austria, air quality, commercial vehicle, reduction of gas emissions, toll, tradeable emission permit

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/151

to
systems which provide for the right to a fair trial to an extradited person,
adjudication by an impartial
to law’. One might consider that severe
shortcomings in the provision of this right in the legal system of one party could authorise the other party
to deem that the basis for the agreement has been lost and that there is no obligation to extradite.

tribunal established pursuant

including the right

A general debate took place in Parliament on 3 June 2003, and the Honourable Member is further referred
to the replies provided at this occasion. The Council decided on 6 June 2003 to authorize the Presidency
to sign the Agreements, which will be done in Washington on 25 June 2003.

(2004/C 33 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1662/03

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 May 2003)

Subject: Tailored toll system

In paragraph 54 of the Presidency conclusions of the European Council meeting held on 20 and 21 March
2003 the Member States are called on to reach a final agreement on the emissions trading directive.

The ecopoints system, which entered into force in 1993, will come to an end in December 2003. Studies
carried out thus far have shown that the objectives laid down in Austria’s accession treaty, namely a 60 %
reduction in NOX emissions and the imposition of restrictions on the number of journeys made by heavy
goods vehicles (108 % clause), have not been achieved over the period in question: instead of a 60 %
reduction, only a 52 % cut in pollutant emissions has been recorded. The 108 % clause was criticised by
the European Commission and the Member States on the grounds that it laid down a qualitative objective,
involving a general reduction in pollutant emissions, rather than seeking to impose quantitative restrictions
on the number of transit journeys. This shortcoming could be offset by means of a tailored toll system
penalising road hauliers on the basis of their individual pollutant emissions.

Should the 108 % clause be abolished, what economically and ecologically acceptable alternative can the
European Commission offer?

Does the European Commission share the view that emissions might usefully be regulated through the
introduction of a tailored toll system?

In that connection, what support can the European Commission offer the Member States and, in particular,
the sensitive areas in the central Alps?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2003)

The upper limit on the number of transit trips that may be made in any year (cid:1) the so-called ‘108 % clause’
has been considered as a major inconsistency of the ecopoint system and this opinion is confirmed by the
Parliament agreement
to withdraw it from the system (1). This clause can only apply if the overall
environmental performance of lorries improves by more than 8 % per annum. However, since the aim of
the ecopoint system is to encourage hauliers to use more environmentally friendly lorries when transiting
Austria it is hard to justify a sanction that actually arises from lorries being ‘too green’.

Concerning the objective of the ecopoint system laid down in Article 11 of Protocol No 9, the total
nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions shall be reduced by 60 % in the period between 1 January 1992 and
31 December 2003. On 1 January 1992, there were in theory, 23 556 220 ecopoints available for EU-15.
Since every ecopoint has been agreed to be equivalent to one unit of NOX, the objective of the ecopoint
system will therefore be achieved, according to the provisions of Protocol No 9, when 40 % of this total
(i.e. 9 422 488 ecopoints) have been used in one calendar year and this will be the case in 2003.

C 33 E/152

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

Regarding the statistics of NOX emissions in Austria, the exact percentage of the decrease of NOX emissions
by lorries transitting Austria must be weighed against many factors like: the amount of pollution caused by
domestic traffic or by road transport vehicles other than lorries, the emissions performance of a well-
maintained engine compared to a poorly-maintained engine, the conditions in which the test cycles of the
new engines are made, etc.

In the present discussion of the prolongation of the ecopoint system, the idea of having the most polluting
lorries excluded from the transit via Austria has been discussed by both Parliament and Council. Whereas
more environmentally friendly lorries such as EURO IV would be exempted from ecopoints.

The emissions should in the first place be regulated by adaquate standards in the laws (EURO-
classification). Moreover, the Commission has the intention to present shortly a sectoral proposal for a
Directive on charging for the use of road infrastructure, amending Directive 1999/62/EC (2).

It is intended to contribute to bringing about a level playing field in the transport market, while ensuring
that specificities of sensitive zones and corridors are taken into account.

(1) Proposal of the Commission, OJ 120 E, 24.4.2001; approved by the Parliament on 1 September 2001.
(2) 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, OJ L 187, 20.7.1999.

(2004/C 33 E/149)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1663/03

by Joan Vallvé (ELDR) to the Commission

(19 May 2003)

Subject: Support for horticultural production

Article 53, entitled ‘Agricultural use of the land’, of the proposal for a Council regulation establishing
common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and support schemes for
producers of certain crops (1), states that ‘farmers may use their land for any agricultural activity except for
permanent crops’.

This means that farmers who have hitherto used their land for arable crops, and who will receive a
decoupled subsidy once the new regulation has come into force, will be able to use these areas for fruit
and vegetables without consequently losing their entitlement to this support.

This will give rise to a serious distortion in the functioning of the sector, given that traditional fruit and
vegetable producers who do not receive any direct support will be competing in the same market with
new producers who were previously producing arable crops and do receive this type of subsidy.

Account must also be taken of the fact that, under the current regulations, fruit and vegetables produced
on this land will also be eligible for the already scant resources which the EU sets aside for the fruit and
vegetable sector, and which will henceforth have to be shared among a larger number of farmers.

This is even more surprising bearing in mind that, in the earlier version of the reform proposal, i.e. the
Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament of 10 July 2002 (2),
this
possibility was ruled out and a clear indication was given, on page 20 of the English version in the section
headed ‘scope of the scheme’, that ‘at this stage, cultivation of fruit and vegetables would not be eligible for
support under the new scheme’.

Furthermore, neither the recitals nor the explanatory memorandum to COM(2003) 23 final make any
reference to the reasons for this change.

Why has the Commission decided to propose allowing the cultivation of vegetables in areas which will
receive decoupled support once the CAP reform has come into force?

(1) COM(2003) 23 final.
(2) COM(2002) 394 final.