Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-299"
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"en.20030514.14.3-299"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, as has already been said, this is about the consummation of a relationship that in fact already exists. This being so, we were not entirely convinced that this was a matter of urgency, as it might have been possible to submit a motion on this subject at a rather earlier date. That is why my colleagues and I have not been able to agree to this being treated as a matter of urgent and topical importance, but the majority have done so, and we will, of course, agree to the terms whereby the agreement is implemented.
Like Mrs Schierhuber, I would like to reiterate very briefly that the ecopoint rules as such keeps on being criticised, and I can also see that it cannot be of long-term duration, but what is at issue at present is to what extent these ecopoint rules can or should be extended until 2006, because we are working on the assumption that we will then at last have what is termed the infrastructure costs directive, by which is meant a set of general rules applicable not only to transit traffic, but also to HGV traffic on the roads in general, especially HGVs that are not very environmentally friendly.
The fact is that we have to see that the ecopoint rules have helped a great deal to make road traffic more environmentally friendly, quite simply because the fact that HGVs, which are worse in terms of the environment, use up more ecopoints has led many operators and haulage firms to acquire more environmentally-friendly HGVs, these being cheaper in terms of ecopoints and capable of making more journeys. It was also very smart – and, one might say, ultimately consistent with market conditions – to enact a rule that, rather than prohibiting transit, prompted enterprises to acquire environmentally-friendly HGVs; and that, in fact, is what the present debate with the Commission and the Council is all about.
We are very grateful to the Commission for giving us a great deal of help in finding a transitional arrangement with which another technological advance can be achieved. Even now, it is a matter of debate whether, if we impose more ecopoints on the HGVs in Euro-category 2 – that is, those that are very bad for the environment – while exempting entirely those in Euro-category 4, companies will promptly change over from Euro-category 2 to Euro-category 4 in order to use HGVs that are environmentally friendly and exempted for the purposes of transport. Contrary to the impression – one that should not be given – that we are extending rules that are fundamentally wrong and unworkable, this arrangement with Croatia is one that will be good for the environment not only in Austria, but also throughout Europe, for these environmental effects make themselves felt not only in the Austrian Alps, but in Europe as a whole, and so I thank the Commission for its support, and we will, tomorrow, as a group, be voting to approve these rules."@en1
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