Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-158"
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"en.20030211.7.2-158"2
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"Mr President, I cannot understand my Austrian colleagues. After all, they should be satisfied with the way in which the Caveri report gives them another sensible transitional regulation. I want to remind you of one thing, something previously approved by the Council and endorsed by the Commission, and that is the fact that this special arrangement for Austria applies just as much to those parts of the country that are not in the Alps and from which, indeed, the Alps are not even visible, parts that are quite simply flat. I will remind the honourable gentleman and the honourable ladies that this is a special case, and a quite unjustified one at that. Do you imagine we do not get transit traffic in the north of Germany? Do you imagine that other parts of Germany, or of Belgium do not suffer from it? They are even worse off. What you are after is special treatment! In no way can you justify that!
Excuse me, my good sir, but why do not you behave like a parliamentarian for a change? We are not here to represent the interests of Austrian citizens, but the interests of the European Union's, all 370 million of whom also have a right to avail themselves of the free movement of services. This is not just about the Austrians' unilateral rights; the other 360 million citizens are also entitled to see Community law adhered to. The great thing about the Caveri report is that in it, we are proposing that there should again be a three-year transitional arrangement for the Alpine region. Just take a close look at that: in 2005, according to the Caveri report, even category 0 and 1 heavy goods vehicles are to be banned from passing through. That shows that we are meeting your people and their interests halfway! What you are doing here is constructing a fictitious bogeyman by claiming that the remainder of the EU is against you and the environment, which you alone allegedly care for. Ladies and gentlemen, that is intolerable.
The Caveri report proposed a sound compromise between the interests of 360 million citizens of the EU and those of fewer than 10 million other EU citizens. That has to be weighed in the balance. I believe that the Caveri report ends up making you a good offer, in the form of a transitional arrangement. But it is not on for the Austrians to say that they want special rights, for, my good friend from the Austrian Socialist group, what has happened over recent years? You kept on wanting cross-subsidies. The European Court of Justice took note of the way you exacted exaggeratedly high tolls, and yet, with all the inflated resources you acquired, you did not manage to build the Brenner base tunnel. Those are the facts of the matter."@en1
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