Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-13-Speech-2-370"
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"en.20051213.61.2-370"2
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"Madam President, Minister, Mrs Wortmann-Kool, ladies and gentlemen, if we are on the verge of reaching agreement with the Council on such a sensitive proposal in second reading today, it is mainly thanks to the excellent work and, if I may say so, perseverance of your rapporteur, Mrs Wortmann-Kool. My warmest congratulations to you, Madam.
The second concern is this directive’s geographical coverage. On this point, the new directive will allow the Member States to apply tolls and user charges to all roads. Your amendments also seek to ensure that when the Member States apply tolls they follow clear principles for their calculation so that they are fair, non-discriminatory and consistent with Community law.
So far as the possibility of a toll mark-up in urban areas is concerned, the compromise you propose is reasonable. It is perfectly clear that if the Member States wish to introduce urban charging systems in order to reduce pollution and congestion, they are free to do so, and the example of London seems most interesting in this regard.
Finally, on the question of the vehicles covered by the future directive, you have defined the timetables for including vehicles over 3.5 tonnes within the scope of the directive and the exemptions from it. These are wise proposals that will allow the directive to be implemented better.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission has no difficulty in welcoming Parliament’s amendments, which reflect the compromise negotiated between our three institutions.
May I remind you of the approach underlying the proposal for a directive. Its main purpose is to find answers to the imbalance and potential inefficiency facing the European transport system today. These problems were identified in the White Paper on the common transport policy. Our response is to say that if transport users are gradually made to carry the costs of the transport they use, that will help to reduce pollution and congestion and release further funding for investment in transport infrastructures.
The text we are examining today amends the present directive, which dates from 1999 and provides a framework for the imposition of tolls and user charges on Europe’s motorways.
The present directive is both restrictive and ineffective. Restrictive because it prohibits the imposition of tolls on any road infrastructure other than motorways. It also stipulates that infrastructure costs are the only factor to be used in calculating the level of tolls. It is nevertheless ineffective because it does not specify any method for implementing these provisions. The lack of a method of calculating infrastructure costs is detrimental to fair competition and encourages discriminatory treatment of users.
The Commission has proposed several amendments in response to this situation. First of all, a geographical coverage extending to all the trans-European road network. Then, a start should be made – only a start, it is true, but a start nonetheless – at taking account of external costs: restrictions on the practice of discounts, and the introduction of the principle of earmarking toll receipts. While Parliament was able to give its opinion swiftly in first reading, the Council, Minister, found it more difficult to reach a decision. It took four meetings of the Council to come to an agreement, and I in turn would like to thank you.
It is understandable that transit states want to pass more of the external costs of road transport on to users. Peripheral states, for their part, want to ensure that transport will play its part in integrating their national economies into the single market, and this difference in stance between transit states and peripheral states makes discussion difficult, but it has also enabled us to find this compromise.
Since then, the three institutions have been working very hard to reach an agreement in second reading. Thanks to the European Parliament’s amendments and thanks to you, Mrs Wortmann-Kool, significant improvements have been made.
The text that is now on the table brings us back to the concerns to which the Commission has drawn attention in the form of declarations. The first is about the stage you have reached on the road to internalising external costs. Under the new directive, a toll mark-up will allow a partial internalisation of external costs and may be applied in mountain areas. The proceeds of this mark-up will have to be used to fund alternative transport infrastructures. The new directive will also allow greater variation in tolls to take account of vehicle pollution or road congestion.
Finally, on the subject of analysing the internalisation of external costs, I am pleased to say that the Commission will be able to prepare and publish the models and impact analyses requested by Parliament in the next two years. The Commission will be able to assess the need for further Community action on that basis."@en1
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