The car is the star in Austria’s plans

Date: 28/05/1998

By Chris Johnstone

EVEN though the details have yet to be worked out, it is clear that the car will be the star in the environmental policy arena during Austria's six-month stint at the driving wheel of EU politics.

Vienna expects to steer at least three measures related to vehicles through the Council of Ministers during its Union presidency - the monitoring of carbon dioxide from cars and labelling emission outputs, tightened controls on light vehicles, and a European Commission proposal on end-of-life vehicles.

The last of these would set new rules to govern the way scrapyards operate and force carmakers to take the ultimate responsibility for ensuring their vehicles are recycled and not dumped.

There is, however, a good chance that this dossier will not be agreed by the end of the year and may be passed on to the next holder of the EU presidency, Germany.

Austria itself may inherit responsibility for some of the measures which had been due to be settled during the UK's term at the helm.

The first Commission package of proposals to improve fuel and engine quality of cars will become one of its priorities if the UK fails to close a deal with the European Parliament on their final form. Finalising the framework directive on water might also fall to Vienna.

Austria, which has a unilateral ban on genetically-modified organisms in place, will take a lead in moves to open up to more democratic scrutiny the current secretive and technical rules for deciding whether biologically altered foods can be marketed in the EU.

Renewable energy will also be high on the agenda as the subject chosen by Austria for the next informal meeting of EU environment ministers to be held later this year in Graz.

Vienna argues that the time has come for environment ministers to make a contribution to the debate on an issue which has hitherto occupied EU energy ministers.

Austria is one of the Union's biggest producers of renewable energy, mostly from hydroelectric power, and, with 40&percent; of the country covered by trees, is also looking at the possibility of using its forests to generate power. “This is an area where we think that environment ministers should have a say as well,” said an Austrian official.

On the ongoing issue of climate change, Austria expects the UK to push through the painful decisions on how the burden of greenhouse gas reductions should be shared out between EU countries.

This will leave Vienna to work out what common EU-wide measures will be necessary, where cooperation should be stepped up and areas in which governments should be allowed to go it alone.