Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-17-Speech-3-143"
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"en.20031217.5.3-143"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would firstly like to thank you for your support for our initiative on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems, which is an essential element in the European policy on charging for infrastructures and on the management of transport demand.
This Directive appears amongst the proposals in the White Paper on transport policy and, clearly, it is a preliminary step to establishing the new Eurovignette system and to facilitating the payment by users of the costs of the use of road infrastructures.
The Directive has the following three objectives: firstly, the interoperability of electronic road toll systems; secondly, the establishment of a European electronic road toll system; and, thirdly, the introduction of satellite technology.
The principle of interoperability allows us to remove the obstacles standing in the way of creating the internal market in electronic tolls and therefore to prevent barriers; it allows us to extend electronic tolls more widely and restrict congestion at payment points.
The European electronic road toll service we are proposing, like the interoperability of systems, responds to genuine need for users, in particular lorry drivers, who want an electronic means of payment as soon as possible, a single one for the whole of the network. The service we are proposing, based on the principle of a single contract, offers both users and operators the protection of a clear legal document which can be used in the event of a dispute. It is a question of implementing in this field what already exists, for example, in the fields of mobile telephones and bank card systems.
With regard to the migration of the current electronic toll systems, based on microwave systems, to satellite technology, I will say that this is the only solution for the future which allows us to respond to the various needs of the European Union’s charging policy and which will furthermore allow us to considerably improve the quality of road transport, thanks to the establishment of new telematic services and new possibilities, particularly security systems, such as speed restrictors, anti-collision devices, the monitoring of the traffic in dangerous goods, information for travellers – in accordance with their position – on the situation on the different roads and on the fluidity of traffic at different points etc.
Mr President, the lack of a firm commitment in favour of satellite technology would not be coherent with the decisive policy being maintained by this Commission and this Parliament in particular, as well as the Council and the European Union as a whole, in favour of the Galileo system.
I would like to say that numerous Member States – with the notable exceptions of Germany and Italy – wish to continue using microwave systems in parallel with satellite systems. This desire, which is understandable in view of the investments already made, can be dealt with by integrating a firm recommendation on the solution for the satellites – rather than obtaining the full and closed commitment – which allows this to become a reality in the medium term. This is also accepted by the Council. I am going to listen to the rest of the debate, but I hope that, thanks to the work of the rapporteur, Mrs Sommer, and the co-rapporteur, Mr Turmes, and thanks to the work of the Council, we can adopt it at first reading – which I would insist is extremely important – in order the facilitate the use of toll systems on roads in the future.
Mr President, today we were not going to talk about the ‘Eurovignette Directive’, but I would like to say to Mr Turmes that the working group on transport has already met on several occasions with a view to making progress on the debate on this complex Directive, and we are trying to achieve as successful a result as the one I expect with the ‘Electronic Toll Directive’, in other words that, at first reading – before the end, therefore, of Parliament's current mandate – Parliament and the Council can adopt it."@en1
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