Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-20-Speech-2-056"
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"en.20040420.3.2-056"2
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"Mr President, I am pleased and at the same time grateful that, after a very long time, the rapporteur has, after all, managed to find good compromises within the life of this Parliament.
This proposal to charge HGVs is an improvement on the current system. It offers Member States more flexibility with regard to the kinds of systems they use. Charges can be adapted according to time of day, day, weight and EURO emission class. As a result, the charges are more flexible and more market-oriented than in the old regime, and that is progress. It is also, in my view, important that the pre-conditions for charging HGVs should be regulated at European level. There should be a system in place to stipulate how a toll is to be imposed and organised by a Member State. In this context, it is important to ensure that unnecessary new charges for heavier transport do not have a knock-on effect, which would have serious consequences for the normal logistical flow of goods, and lead to competition from the top down. We do not want to turn this into a competition.
The proposal that is now before us is not quite finished. I myself am pleased with Amendment No 50 tabled by Mr Simpson and Mr Swoboda. I too am concerned about the ambiguity surrounding the way in which attempts are being made to internalise external costs, environmental costs, social costs and costs of accidents. This should be done on the basis of generally valid calculation methods. It is positive that the Commission will return in two years with an indication as to how we should give this substance.
Finally, I am pleased that any reference to passenger transport has been removed from this report. It is simply a bridge too far to make agreements at European level at this stage. That is why there is such a huge volume of passenger transport, in other words cars, and that in highly important Member States, this volume problem – car traffic to them often means local traffic – and also local charges can be tackled. However, it is, above all, important to ensure that an alternative is in place."@en1
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