L 241/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 26.9.2000 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2012/2000 of 21 September 2000 amending Annex 4 to Protocol No 9 to the 1994 Act of Accession and Regulation (EC) No 3298/94 with regard to the system of ecopoints for heavy goods vehicles transiting through Austria THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Articles 11(2) and 16 of Protocol No 9 thereto, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Protocol No 9, Whereas: 1 (10) Protocol No 9 provides for a special regime concerning the transit of heavy goods vehicles through Austrian territory based on a system of Rights of Transit (ecopoints). The distribution scale of ecopoints to the Member States is given by Annex 4 to the Protocol. Article 11(2)c of Protocol No 9 requires the Commission to adopt appropriate measures in accordance with paragraph 3 of Annex 5 thereto if the number of transit journeys through Austria requiring ecopoints in any year exceeds the reference figure established for 1991 by more than 8 %. Paragraph 3 of Annex 5 to the Protocol lays down rules in order to establish a revised number of ecopoints that shall be made available in case the 1991 reference figure is exceeded. The threshold established in the abovementioned Article 11(2)c was exceeded in 1999. The applica- tion of the calculation method laid down by paragraph 3 of Annex 5 will lead to a reduction of the overall number of available ecopoints. Protocol No 9 must be applied in accordance with the fundamental freedoms established by the Treaty. It is therefore imperative to take measures which are capable of ensuring the free movement of goods and the full functioning of the internal market. To impose the whole reduction of ecopoints solely in 2000 would have the disproportionate effect of stopping, to all intents and purposes, transit traffic through Austria. As a result, the reduction in the total number of ecopoints should be spread over the years 2000 to 2003. Proportionality of the reduction of ecoponts also requires that those Member States who contributed most to the 8 % threshold being exceeded should have their allocations of ecopoints cut to ensure that the total reduction is met. This calls for a revision of the distribution key of ecopoints to the Member States. To ensure the most efficient use of the available number of ecopoints, measures shall be undertaken further to encourage Member States to return unused ecopoints to the Commission for redistribu- tion. More intensive use of rail freight in combined transport, in particular of the ‘Rollende Landstrafe’, is less environmentally damaging than road freight and has the potential of relieving the pressure on the number of ecopoints available. Its more efficient use, inter alia by reviewing the way in which places are reserved, should be urgently promoted. The effects of such efforts should be monitored. Annex 4 to Protocol No 9 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 3298/94 (') should be amended accordingly. (") O] L 341, 30.12.1994, p. 20. Regulation as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 152496 (O] L 190, 31.7.1996, p. 13).