Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-165"
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"en.20030211.7.2-165"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we must not forget that, although we are talking about the specific case of Austria, our perspective must be much wider, covering the entire network of Alpine passes, if we want to be objective and make decisions which suit everybody to some degree. Indeed, what happens to one pass immediately affects all the others. As far as the Brenner tunnel is concerned, recent progress has been spasmodic, to say the least. I would point out that, apart from its natural appeal as a direct vertical line connecting Northern Europe to the Mediterranean, just recently, traffic going to the Brenner tunnel – in Austria, therefore, but in Italy too – has increased immeasurably for very long periods because of the closure of first the Mont Blanc tunnel and then the St Gotthard tunnel and because of the acute crises at the Fréjus pass and the Swiss passes. All this has helped to make the question of the environmental protection of Austria desperate, but we must not forget – and this has never been given any consideration – that there is another side of the Alps, the Italian side, and it will not surprise you to learn that that is where I live. We have never received any recognition of what is exactly the same problem as that of Austria, whereas Austria has been allowed to use the ecopoints system and other systems mentioned by a number of speakers. We have never been allowed to use an ecopoints system or tolls like those for the ‘Ponte Europa’ or the Austrian stretch of motorway, which are among the highest in Europe.
I have therefore reached the conclusion that the solution proposed by the Caveri report is fair. It is right to apply the ecopoints system to EURO 1 and EURO 2 lorries and it is right to exempt EURO 3 lorries and all subsequent generations of vehicles, but it is also right to abandon ecopoints after 2006 and find alternative ways of offsetting external costs, and not just where Austria is concerned but with regard to all the critical and sensitive areas of Europe. Lastly, it is right to focus on implementing major rail and intermodal transport projects, starting with the Brenner Base Tunnel, for now it really is time to get to work not just on projects but on implementing them too."@en1
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