Truck fee dispute to decide fate of EU-Swiss agreement

Date: 12/03/1998

By Simon Coss

THE future of a wide-ranging trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and Switzerland hangs on the outcome of next week's meeting of Union transport ministers, warn European Commission officials.

The proposed accord covers cooperation between the Alpine state and the EU in a wide range of areas including agriculture, free movement of people and public procurement rules.

But it is the transport sector, and in particular the thorny issue of how much EU trucks have to pay to cross Swiss territory, which has proved the biggest stumbling block in negotiations.

When they meet next Tuesday (17 March), transport ministers will have to decide whether to accept a provisional lorry deal brokered by Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock earlier this year.

Commission officials claim that if it is rejected, the entire EU-Swiss agreement - which is an 'all or nothing' package - is likely to collapse. “If they do not accept it, then that's that,” said Kinnock's spokeswoman Sarah Lambert, adding: “If sovereign member states say they really do not want this then all we can say is, we have done our best.”

Several member states have raised objections to the provisional agreement. This would end the current Swiss ban on lorries weighing more than 28 tonnes after 2005 and permit Bern to charge an average of just over 200 ecu a year for trucks crossing its territory from that date.

But the key to breaking the current deadlock is finding a solution acceptable to Austria, which suffers the effects of Bern's tough environmental laws. Switzerland's high charges and weight limits for trucks encourage hauliers travelling between northern and southern Europe to cross the Alps by the cheaper Brenner Pass through Austria.

Vienna argues that any final Swiss deal must be linked to agreement on how much member states can charge for Eurovignette tax discs for trucks within the Union.

Austria says the two issues should be linked as it must be able to match Swiss tolls to stop more lorries using its roads. But the Commission insists Austria cannot be given the freedom to equal Swiss charges 'ecu for ecu'. “It simply would not be possible to sell such a principle to other member states,” explained one official.

However, a compromise solution appears to be emerging. “We are hoping that Austria will agree to the principle that charging can be comparable rather than exactly matching,” said Lambert.

This starting point would be backed up with a safeguard clause allowing the situation to be reviewed if charges over Alpine routes began to diverge too greatly. It is also thought that ministers will agree to discuss the Swiss deal and Eurovignettes in tandem next week.

Vienna has cautiously welcomed the latest proposals. “There should be comparability, but they don't have to be exactly the same level of charges,” said one Austrian diplomat, adding: “We will not say 'yes' at any price, but in the end we are in favour of a deal.”