Austrian lorry limits pose headache for Commission

Date: 18/05/2000

By Renée Cordes

THE European Commission is searching for a legal loophole in an agreement struck with Austria when it joined the EU to stop Vienna imposing drastic cuts on the number of foreign lorries using its roads this year.

Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio will suggest next week that instead of demanding a 20% reduction in emissions from non-Austrian lorries this year, Vienna should spread it over three years. The move is aimed at staving off a potentially highly damaging political dispute with the Union's 14 other member states, which fear their lorry drivers could soon be denied access to vital Alpine routes to southern and eastern Europe.

Although Austria appears ready to accept that the planned reduction should be spread over three years, officials warn the government is likely to face internal protests from its own drivers on Tyrolean routes if it does not act to reduce congestion. Legal experts also fear that even if a politically acceptable solution can be found, it might be unlawful under the terms of the deal struck with Austria as part of its accession treaty.

Pressure is growing on policy makers to find a solution soon, especially given the lack of alternative Alpine routes due in large part to the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel disaster.

Long before Austria joined the EU, it launched an 'eco-point' programme designed to limit the number of trucks travelling through its territory, arguing that this would help unclog congested roads and limit environmental damage from traffic. Under the system, lorries 'pay' one point for each unit of polluting gases emitted, which means greener vehicles collect fewer points, and there is a limit on the number of eco-points which individual trucking firms can amass. The long-term goal was to reduce the total amount of nitrogen oxide emissions from traffic by 60% between 1991 and 2003, when the system is due to expire.

Austria insisted on retaining this system when it joined the Union in 1995, despite concerns that the measure contravened single-market principles. Under the deal, if the number of journeys increased significantly, there would be an accompanying reduction in eco-points lorries were allowed to notch up. Today, there are more and more trucks traversing Austrian roads, prompting Vienna's proposal for a 20% reduction this year, even though modern lorries are less polluting.

EU road lobby groups insist that the Commission should not grant Austria an extension of the controversial system, arguing that it should never have been allowed in the first place. "The eco-points are being used very quickly so there is a huge risk that by June or July all the points for 2000 will already have been used," said Maarten Labberton of the International Road Transport Union.

The European Commission is searching for a legal loophole in an agreement struck with Austria when it joined the EU to stop Vienna imposing drastic cuts on the number of foreign lorries using its roads.