Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-11-Speech-2-384"
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"en.20071211.40.2-384"2
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Madam President, the Commission carried out a study to collate all publications on the subject and identify the best practices for assessment of external costs. Many of the various methodologies identified referred to research projects financed by the Commission: Unit, ExternE, and other more recent projects. A handbook is now being drawn up and we intend to publish this shortly. This is the first point.
Secondly, the Commission has started work on an impact assessment in relation to compensation for external costs. Many charging options have been identified and submitted for public consultation. The consultation will come to an end on 31 January 2007 and a high-level conference will be held in January 2008 to present the handbook and the results of the public consultation which will add to the ongoing impact assessment. This is our work schedule.
As you can see, it is quite intense. The following external costs are being considered: accidents, congestion, air pollution, climate change and noise. The assessment covers all means of transport. It envisages different systems and different economic instruments such as taxation, user rights and emission rights trading. We are assessing the instruments using a model-based quantitative analysis. The purpose of all this is to make our means of transport increasingly environmentally friendly. In accordance with the results of this work, the Commission will issue a communication before next summer.
I wish to digress slightly to answer Mrs Ţicău on the Alpine Convention. The aim of the Convention’s Transport Protocol is to establish specific charging systems that take account of actual costs and encourage the most environmentally friendly transport systems. The system introduced by the 2006 Eurovignette Directive to encourage the use of more environmentally friendly transport systems pursues the same objectives as the Alpine Convention’s Transport Protocol. What does the present Eurovignette Directive actually say? It makes provision for obligatory modulation of tolls to be paid as of 2010 by vehicles which pollute up to 100% more than environmentally friendly vehicles. In mountain areas, the Directive aims to internalise the external costs of environmental damage and congestion through an additional toll of up to 25% of the infrastructure toll. Revenue from the additional toll must be reallocated to projects that make a direct contribution to alleviating environmental damage.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to make myself very clear: this communication, in light of all the work I have mentioned, is an extremely difficult task, believe me. It will allow us to assess the best calculation methods in this field. It will define a methodology that can be used for the various means of transport. In mid-2008, before the summer, in fact, in June, I also intend to submit a report to the College on the assessment and internalisation of external costs. I mentioned a communication, and so I will submit this report, with the agreement of the College, along with a proposal to amend the current Eurovignette Directive. It is clear, but it must be stated, that the proposal in relation to the present Eurovignette Directive constitutes an amendment that will allow external costs to be internalised within the scope of the current Directive.
This was what I had to say to the House. Madam President, I know all this is at the heart of our sustainable development policy. It is in fact necessary to internalise external costs but, in order to internalise external costs, we must have a Community definition and we must choose the best internalisation methodology.
I have tried to be as precise as possible this evening, and I am willing to return to the House to report on the difficult and important tasks required by the report which I will be presenting in mid-2008."@en1
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