Report from the Commission to the Council on the Transit of Goods by Road through Austria
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 16. 01. 1998 COM(98) 6 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the Transit of Goods by Road through Austria REPORT TO THE COUNCIL on the Transit of Goods by Road through Austria 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Basis for the Report Protocol No. 9 of the Act of Accession of the Kingdom of Norway, the republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden1 covers road, rail and combined transport operation in Austria. Articles 10-15 of the protocol permit the operation of a regime in Austria to limit certain emissions from heavy goods vehicles transiting Austria. This regime shall have a maximum duration of until 31 December 2003. However, the duration of the ecopoint system is subject to two reviews. Article 11(4) requires that "before 1 January 2001, the Commission, in co-operation with the European Environment Agency, shall make a scientific study of the degree to which the objective [of a 60% reduction of NOx emissions] has been achieved". If Commission concludes that this objective has been achieved on a sustainable basis then the ecopoint system shall cease to apply on 1 January 2001. In addition, Article 11(3) of the protocol requires that "Before 1 January 1998, the Council, on the basis of a report from the Commission, shall review the operation of provisions concerning transit of goods by road through Austria". Furthermore, "Unless the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, decides otherwise, the transitional period shall be extended to 1 January 2001". In accordance with the obligations of Article 11(3) the Commission has thus drawn up this report on the transit of goods by road through Austria, which covers the operation of the ecopoint system since its inception. 1. 2 History The ecopoint system came into existence as a direct consequence of the geographic position (and geography) of Austria and the historical development of road transport in Western Europe. Lying immediately between Italy and Germany and also on a major corridor to eastern Europe Austria is thus susceptible to transit traffic in both north-south and east-west directions. 1 O. J. No. C24I of 29. 08. 1994, p. 361. Furthermore, the geography of Austria's alpine areas both encourages north-south travel along alpine valleys and also means that the fragile environment is particularly susceptible to the negative effects of traffic pollution and noise. The long-term growth in the transport of freight by road has been exacerbated in Austria by the policy of low weight limits for trucks in Switzerland which has resulted in considerable additional traffic being diverted via Austria. The environmental concerns in Austria resulted in a desire for action to reverse the deteriorating environmental situation caused by transit traffic. On 2 May 1992 an Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Austria on the Transit of Goods by Road and Rail2 was signed. Article 15 of the Agreement stated that "the Parties agreed to reduce the emissions and noise generated by heavy goods vehicles crossing Austrian territory in transit. Such a reduction shall be achieved by cutting NOx emissions"3. It went on to say that "total NOx emissions from heavy goods vehicles with a laden weight of 7. 5 tonnes registered in one Party [i. e. either in the Community of 12 or Austria] and crossing Austria by transit shall, starting in 1992, be reduced by 60% in the twelve year period until the end of 2003". Thus an overall limit on total NOx emissions was calculated for the year 1991 and this is reduced on a linear basis by a total of 60% until the end of 2003. As a safeguard to ensure that technical progress in the development of cleaner engines does not make the ecopoint system ineffective Article 15(5)(2) of the Agreement also lays down a quantitative limit of 108% of the journeys made in 1991 (1 617 600 journeys). If this limit is exceeded then the number of ecopoints made available the following year is revised downwards by an agreed formula. The distribution of ecopoints amongst the Member States was laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3637/924. Not only did this Regulation fix the proportion of each year's ecopoints that every country would get, it also created a "Community Reserve", whereby each Member States puts 3. 34% of their national ecopoint allocation into a reserve which is then used to alleviate shortages. In 1993 during preliminary meetings on accession Austria confirmed that they wished the ecopoint system to continue after their accession into the European Union. Therefore, on 1 January 1995 the ecopoint system was revised quantitatively to include Sweden and Finland for the first time and to take into account the revised status of Austria as a Member State - in particular, its obligations to contribute to - and possibility to benefit from - the Community Reserve of ecopoints. 2 Published as Council Decision 92/577/EEC of 27 November 1992 in O. J. No. L373 of 21. 12. 1992, p. 4. 3 NOx is a eoMective term for all the oxides of nitrogen. 4 O. J. No. L373of21. 12. 1992, p. 1. Continuation of the ecopoint system with Austria, Finland and Sweden as Member States of the European Union was formalised in Protocol No. 9 of the Act of Accession, whilst As a consequence of Article 11(6) of Protocol No. 9, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 3298/945 replaced Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3637/92 in laying down detailed measures for the operation of the ecopoint system for fifteen Member States. Since the accession of Austria Regulation 3298/94 has been amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1524/966. This Regulation provides for the introduction of an electronic telematics-based ecopoint system to largely replace the paper system. Its basis is Article 14 of the Act of Accession, which states that "1. There shall be no controls at the borders between Austria and other Member States. However, in derogation from Regulations (EEC) No 4060/89 and (EEC) No 3912/92 and notwithstanding Article 153 of the Act of Accession, non discriminatory physical controls requiring vehicles to halt in order solely to verify ecopoints may be retained until 31 December 1996. Such controls shall not unduly slow down the normal flow of traffic. 2. To the extent necessary, any control methods including electronic systems applicable after 31 December 1996 and relating to the implementation of Article 11 shall be decided in accordance with [the management committee for the ecopoint system]". 1. 3 Operation of the System since 1. 1. 1993 It should firstly be noted that the ecopoint system only applies to freight vehicles over 7. 5 tonnes registered in the Community making transit journeys through Austria. 7 Thus the following vehicles are exempted from having to use ecopoints: - all vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 7. 5 tonnes or less; - all passenger vehicles; - all vehicles making bilateral journeys to/from Austria; - all vehicles circulating locally within Austria; - all vehicles using ECMT permits to transit Austria; 5 O. J. No. L341 of 30. 12. 1994, p. 20. 6 O. J. No. LI90 of 31. 07. 1996, p. 13. 7 On the basis of bilateral agreements an analogous ecopoint system is applied independently by Norway and Slovenia for vehicles transiting Austria and it is planned that other countries shall also adopt the system for vehicles transiting Austria and that the EEA Agreement shall be amended to include the Ecopoint system. Norway and Slovenia neither contribute to- nor benefit from the Community Reserve of ecopoints. Furthermore, there are a limited number of categories of freight vehicles over 7. 5 tonnes that are exempt from paying ecopoints. These are listed in Annex C of Regulation 3298/94 and the list is analogous to types of transport exempted from ECMT permit requirements. The ecopoint system operates by means of annually producing a number of ecopoints which is equivalent to the number of trips made in the base year (of 1991) multiplied by the NOx target average for the year in question. Currently the ecopoints take the form of adhesive paper stamps but from 1998 an electronic equivalent will also be available. The paper-based system works by requiring each heavy goods vehicle to "pay" a number of ecopoints for each transit journey through Austria, where one ecopoint corresponds to the emission of 1 g NOx per kilowatt hour (kWh) of the vehicle making the journey. Thus, for example, a vehicle with an emission level of 8 grams NOx /kWh would have to use 8 ecopoints to make a single transit journey across Austrian territory. lor vehicles built on or after 1 October 1990 the information on the vehicle's emissions level is known from the type-approval documentation (issued when the vehicle is manufactured). It is for each Member State, usually in co-operation with vehicle manufacturers or importers, to then issue a vehicle with a Conformity of Production (COP) Document which states the NOx value and ecopoint liability. For type-approval trucks built before October 1990 (for which no recognised information on the vehicle's emissions exists) or when a vehicle has not been issued with a COP document (or when the driver does not present a COP document at the border) a "default" of 16 ecopoints must be paid for a transit journey. The possibility exists for a truck that receives a replacement engine cleaner than its original to get a new COP document. Ecopoints are affixed to a standardised form known as the ecocard, which replaced previous documentation necessary for transiting Austria. Ecocards are sold by the Austrian authorities (at a price of less than 0. 2 ECU per ecocard) and this finances the operation of the paper-based ecopoint system. The establishment of a Community reserve is laid down in Commission Regulation n° 3298/94 which has been adopted in accordance with Article 11(6) of Protocol n° 9 and which ensures that the factual situation for the Member States at the time of the Accession resulting from the Application of Council Regulation (EEC) n° 3637/92 and of the Administrative Arrangement signed on 23 December 1992 setting the date of entry into force and the procedures for the introduction of the ecopoints system referred to in the Transit Agreement, is maintained. In addition to the mandatory 3. 34% contribution of ecopoints each Member State makes into the Community Reserve each country is also obliged to return ecopoints that would be unused to the Community Reserve for redistribution as a solidarity measure to help countries with ecopoint shortages. The Commission formally holds the Community Reserve of ecopoints and distributes it subject to the approval of the management committee for the ecopoint system. The management committee for the ecopoint system was formally established by Article 16 of Protocol No 9. 2. ANALYSIS OF THE OPERATION OF THE ECOPOINT SYSTEM8,9 Table 1 shows the distribution of ecopoints between the Member States, as well as the 3. 34 percent Community Reserve which remains with the Commission. (The actual distribution of the Community Reserve for the years 1993 to 1996 is shown in Table 5). Table 1 clearly shows how the number of ecopoints available for each Member State is fixed on a diminishing basis until the end of 2003. The distribution of ecopoints between Member States is fixed proportionally and is based on the number of transit journeys made in 1991 (based on statistics collected by the Austrian Ministry of Transport). The only variation that is possible is in the total number of ecopoints available (and the 3. 34% proportion designated for the Community Reserve) which can increase upon enlargement of the EU (as occurred in 1995), or if the EEA Agreement is amended to include the ecopoint system (which would have the effect of adding three countries - Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - to the system for the Member States). 8 The analysis of the workings of the ecopoint system shall deal solely with the Member States. Thus, the use of ecopoints by Austria prior to accession in 1995, as well as ecopoints used by Slovenia and Norway shall be excluded from this chapter. 9 Statistical note. In some of the tables and graphs statistics for Spain arid Portugal have been corrupted with German trucks ("D" on the ecocard form) being misread as Portuguese (P) and similarly Italian trucks (I) misread as Spanish (E). Whilst the total numbers of misread ecocards is small the distorting effect on the statistics of countries like Spain and Portugal that make relatively few transit journeys is sufficiently great to seriously corrupt the national statistics. In such cases the corrupted data is replaced by the term n/a (= not accurate). However, it should be noted that the statistics for EUR 12/EUR 15 remain correct. Table 2 shows the total number of trips made each year, by nationality. This shows that there was a considerable growth in transit trips through Austria in 1995. Several factors can be put forward for this growth - the end of the war in former Yugoslavia, the opening of the markets in Eastern Europe, an economic upturn in EU Member States, the reduction of the Austrian "StraBenverkehrsbeitrag" (road-user charge) to the level of the Eurovignette. However, it should be noted that on the one hand, the upper threshold of 1 617 600 journeys (108% of the 1991 coefficient) was not yet exceeded and, on the other hand, if this ceiling is reached it will trigger an automatic additional reduction in the number of ecopoints for the following year. The ecopoint system thus does give a guarantee to the population of Austria that in addition to the guaranteed reduction of emissions transit traffic by trucks cannot continue to grow indefinitely. Both guarantees are unique in the European Union. Table 2 shows the breakdown of trucks transiting Austria by nationality. Trucks registered in Italy and Germany make the most transits, accounting for over two- thirds of all transit journeys. The third most-important country, as far as transit journeys through Austria is concerned, is Austria itself- Austrian trucks account for some ten percent of transit trips. Table 3 shows the average number of ecopoints used per transit trip. This has been calculated as the number of ecopoints used divided by the number of trips made. From the table it can be seen that the EU average is reducing steadily and is lower than the theoretical EU target figure - the average figure that will guarantee the 1991 level of transit journeys. This means that the application of the ecopoint system has brought even greater reductions in vehicle emissions than expected. There are considerable differences in the trends of the national averages. Two Member States (Denmark and Italy) have reduced their average ecopoint use per trip by over thirty percent in four years. In contrast, the Greek average has only improved by 3. 3 percent over the same period. The figures in Table 3 reflect not only the absolute performance of the vehicles but also the relative improvements. In some cases these are due to the efforts of the national administrations of Member States to optimise their ecopoint allocation, such as by granting only a fixed (low) number of ecopoints per trip to encourage hauliers to use the most environmentally-friendly vehicles. The Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland on 1. 1. 1995 added three fleets of trucks with low average ecopoint use. However, this does not seem to have had an impact on the statistics. Table 4 shows the distribution of the EU fleet of trucks in terms of ecopoints used. It should be noted that trucks meeting Eurp 1 standards have a maximum ecopoint requirement of 9 ecopoints per trip, whilst trucks meeting Euro 2 standards have a maximum ecopoint use of 7 ecopoints per trip. It can be seen that the proportion of trucks paying the maximum 16 ecopoints per transit trip has gone down from over 51% in 1993 to under 18% in 1996. In contrast, the proportion of trucks paying 8 ecopoints has risen from under 20% in 1993 to over 41% in 1996, and the proportion of trucks meeting Euro 2 standards on NOx emissions has gone from virtually none in 1993 to almost 27% in 1996. Table 5 shows the use of ecopoints by Member States. It also shows the total number of ecopoints that each Member State has received from - or given to the ecopoint reserve. Nine of the fifteen Member States have benefited from ecopoints from the reserve whilst six Member States (Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland and Portugal) have contributed to the ecopoint reserve without benefiting from it. The total ecopoint use by the 15 Member States can, from Table 5, be seen to have declined by 10% from 1995 to 1996. This represents an actual reduction in the pollution made by trucks in transit. 3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The main conclusion that can be drawn from the first four years of the ecopoint system is that it has successfully reduced the average amount of pollution caused by EU trucks transiting Austria. The average NOx emissions from trucks has fallen by over 27% in four years - an improvement that exceeds the agreed target. Whilst there is no evidence to show that such an improvement is solely due to the ecopoint system the scale of the improvement has been such that it may be safely assumed that the ecopoint system has acted as an incentive. Secondly, the creation of an EU reserve of ecopoints has proved to be an essential tool in managing the use of ecopoints. In addition to the 3. 34% Community Reserve Member States have also shown considerable solidarity in returning unused ecopoints for the use of other Member States. Thirdly, even allowing for differing age profiles of the national truck fleets prior to the introduction of the ecopoint system, the rate at which fleets have adapted to make the most efficient use of ecopoints varies considerably between Member States. Fourthly, total emissions of transit traffic are now declining. The total number of ecopoints used in 1996 was significantly lower than in 1995 and, given that the number of ecopoints available in 1997 is less than the number used in 1996, a further reduction in total emissions is guaranteed. The Commission concludes that the ecopoint system is both a fair and effective means of reducing pollution made by trucks transiting Austria. The Commission, therefore, is of the opinion that the ecopoint system continues in operation until the next review period of 1 January 2001. Furthermore, the Commission is of the opinion that the ecopoint system is an efficient method of reducing pollution by trucks. However, full consideration should be given to developing other instruments to ultimately replace the ecopoint system in order that none of the environmental benefits accruing from the ecopoint system are lost, in view of the fact that any possible extension of such system could only be to 1. 1. 2003, in accordance with Article 11(4) of Protocol n° 9. Finally it should be noted that the issue of EU traffic being diverted via Austria because of transport policies in a Third Country (Switzerland) - with the consequent negative environmental effects for Europe as a whole - have yet to be resolved. ANNEX Statistical Tables Table 1 : Distribution of ecopoints 1991 - 2003 Table 2: Number of Transit Trips Through Austria, by Member State 1993-1996 Table 3: Average number of ecopoints used per trip, by Member State 1993-1996 Table 4: Ecopoints used per truck, 1993-1996 Table 5: Ecopoint use by Member State, 1993-1996. TABLE 1 : Distribution of ECO Points 5. 555. 371 5. 036. 250 4. 579. 113 4. 245. 946 2. 352. 108 2. 132. 316 1. 938. 767 1. 797. 706 O 14. 799. 610 13. 456. 256 12. 477. 206 11. 816. 918 11. 338. 778 11. 042. 782 10. 200. 343 96,1% 14,60 87,9% 13,35 79,5% 12,08 71,7% 10,89 65,0% 9,88 59,1% 8,96 54,8% 8,33 51,9% 7,88 49,8% 7,57 48,5% 7,37 44,8% 6,81 40,0% I 6,08 Table 2 No. of transit trips through Austria 1 D A NL Ell DK B UK S F L Fin E Irl P TOTAL: Eur 12 Eur 15 NOTES: TRIPS MADE 1993 1994 1995 1996 435. 447 501 820 535540 570. 775 379. 968 — 63. 267 421. 592 — 67. 419 493. 330 505. 781 147. 974 155. 462 100. 783 105. 731 17. 002 26. 172 15. 414 16. 507 45. 034 30. 567 38. 857 15. 476 20. 207 46. 839 40. 661 23. 624 1. 684 — 3. 373 3. 427 — n/a 39 n/a 2. 566 — 4. 835 4. 050 -- n/a 52 n/a 6. 104 9. 817 6. 343 4. 161 2. 493 n/a 429 n/a 6. 504 7. 054 4. 440 3. 840 4. 494 n/a 299 n/a 983. 986 — 1. 095. 475 — 1. 280. 430 1. 440. 714 1. 315. 485 1. 482. 495 n/a = See footnote 8 in text PERCENTAGE CHANGE 94/93 95/94 96/95 96/93 15,2% 11. 0%. 6,6% -2,9% 16,8% 0,4% 52,4% — 43,3% 18,2% — n/a 6,7% 17,0%. 49,5% 172,8% 27,1% 30,6% 137,9%. 31,2% 2,7%. n/a 6,6% 2,5% 5,1% 4,9% 4,0% 4,6% 16,9% 6,6% -28,1% -30,0% -7,7% 80,3% n/a 31,1% 33,1%. 67,1% 175,5% 55,4% 53,3% 286,2%. 31,6% 12,1%. n/a 33,3% 725,0% -30,3% 666,7% n/a n/a n/a n/a 11,3% — 16,9%. 2,7% 2,9% 33,7% — 1 D A NL Ell DK B UK S F L Fin E Irl P TOTAL: Eur 12 Eur 15 Table 3 Average number of ecopoints used per transit trip ECOPOINTS PER TRIP 1993 1994 1995 1996 PERCENTAGE CHANGE 94/93 95/94 96/95 96/93 I D A NL Ell DK B UK S F L Fin E Irl P 13,26 11,86 10,33 9,02 9,43 8,99 10,77 10,07 11,67 — 12,46 11,68 10,17 15,60 15,54 15,13 12,24 10,78 8,82 12,84 12,20 10,09 15,74 — 12,94 10,30. n/a 14,92 12,14 11,67 9,83 11,88 10,71 9,68 9,29 n/a 8,08 8,28 n/a 15,42 15,22 12,18 12,69 _ 12,97 15,65 13,40 13,81 15,60. 13,89 10,93. n/a 15,28 n/a n/a n/a n/a 1 D A NL Ell DK B UK S F L Fin E Irl P -10,6% -12,9% -12,7% -8,0%. -3,9% -0,3% -8,7% -7,0% 0,9%. -6. 8% -5,8% — n/a 0,9% n/a -7,7%. -6,3% -0,4% -12,4% -10,7% -12,9% -2,6% -11,9% -18,2% -5,0% -17,3% -5,2%. -8,2% -6,0%. n/a -18,6% -15,8% -9,8% -16,5% -10,9% n/a -1,3% -20,0% n/a n/a -32,0% -25,7%. -21,6% -3,3% -34,2% -26,9% -22,2%. -22,9% -26,1% -- n/a -20,3% n/a EU Average 13,08 11,92 10,81 9,47 EU Average -8,9% -9,3% -12,4% -27,6% EU target 13,35 12,08 10,89 9,88 % Better than target 2,0% 1,3% 0,7% 4 , 1% NOTES: n/a = See footnote 8 in text // Table 4 Ecopoints used per truck Ecopoints used 1993 1994 1995 1996 Ecopoints used NUMBER OF TRIPS MADE < =5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 628 443 1280 875 2346 6718 2313 47971 1521 16540 128680 345704 189440 354347 578304 614316 79403 121422 140771 111274 46208 10093 66668 25477 50234 7772 14020 21596 16607 12201 12157 71968 67913 24781 20653 47355 40678 7164 38399 11117 23305 8101 7100 4707 506099 422585 413798 259618 t o t al t r i ps 983986 1095475 1440714 1482495 < =5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Proportion of trips 1993 0 , 1% 0,0% 0,2% 1994 0 , 1% 0 , 1% 1,5% 1995 0,2% 0. 5% 8,9% 1996 0,2% 3,2% 23,3% 19,3% 32,3% 4 0 , 1% 41,4% 8 , 1% 4,7% 1,0% 6,8% 2,6% 5 , 1% 0,8% 1 1 , 1% 1,3% 1,1% 6,6% 2,3% 4,3% 0,7% 9,8% 1,0% 0,8% 4,7% 1,4% 2,8% 0,5% 7,5% 1. 5% 0,5% 2,6% 0,7% 1,6% 0,3% 51,4% 38,6% 28,7% 17,5% TABLE 5 Ecopolnt Use by Member State BELGIUM National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 434. 006 -110. 000 212. 830 1994 392. 531 -100. 000 198. 738 1995 354. 019 -30. 000 246. 550 1996 320. 938 -10. 000 238. 470 LUXEMBOURG National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 66. 770 0 37. 465 1994 60. 389 0 41. 711 1995 54. 464 5. 000 40. 280 1996 49. 375 0 31. 016 OENMARK National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 540. 839 -50. 578 350. 793 1994 489. 154 0 374. 094 1995 441. 162 15. 000 418. 808 1996 399. 938 20. 000 358. 690 NETHERLANDS National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 1994 1. 649. 224 1. 491. 619 -115. 000 -300. 000 839. 705 820. 631 1995 1996 1. 345. 271 1. 219. 563 -10. 000 1. 177. 033 1. 075. 147 -20. 000 GERMANY National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 1994 1996 6. 443. 324 5. 827. 579 5 255. 817 4. 764. 688 100. 000 4. 821. 539 4. 919. 037 5. 314. 623 4. 767. 712 -200. 000 -663. 658 331. 000 1995 AUSTRIA National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 1994 1995 1996 2. 352. 108 2. 132. 316 -266. 000 -180. 574 1. 489. 931 1. 398. 163 GREECE National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 807. 919 -202. 781 266. 007 1994 730. 712 -235. 615 257. 542 1995 659 020 142. 574 699. 928 1996 597. 438 186. 683 708. 886 PORTUGAL National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 5. 342 -3. 774 n/a 1994 4. 831 -1. 405 n/a SPAIN National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used FRANCE National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used IRELAND National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used ITALY National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 16. 025 0 n/a 1993 66. 770 -17. 000 46. 861 1993 13. 354 -12. 700 596 1994 14. 993 0 n/a 1994 60. 389 0 62. 575 1994 12. 078 -10. 000 802 1995 13. 071 10. 000 n/a 1995 54. 464 25. 705 75. 379 1995 10. 893 -1. 600 6. 531 1996 11. 850 8. 500 n/a 1996 49. 375 8. 000 47. 544 1996 9. 875 -4. 500 3. 641 1993 1994 1996 6. 810. 560 6. 159. 721 5. 555 371 5 036. 250 266. 552 5. 775. 582 5. 949. 522 5. 533. 606 5. 145. 608 306. 755 251000 -97. 194 1995 FINLAND National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used SWEDEN National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 1994 1993 1994 UNITED KINGDOM National allocation Additional ecopoints received Ecopoints used 1993 113. 509 -62. 407 26. 270 1994 102. 662 -25. 000 40. 385 E. U. 15 National allocation Ecopoints returned to EU Reserve Ecopoints distributed from EU Reserve Ecopoints used 1995 4. 357 0 n/a 1995 50. 371 -6. 000 23. 164 1995 82. 127 30. 000 114. 528 1995 9. 590 20. 000 91. 076 1996 3. 950 0 n/a 1996 45. 664 0 37. 211 1996 74. 452 10. 000 69. 634 1996 83. 938 5. 000 78. 935 1995 1996 16. 325. 105 14. 799. 610: 290. 500 508. 800 15. 576. 061 14. 036. 529 238. ! 74 830. 279 NOTES: n/a = See footnote 8 in text Negative values in the table denotes the number of ecopoints returned to the EU Reserve. JX ISSN 0254-1475 COM(98) 6 final DOCUMENTS EN 07 10 08 17 Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-004-EN-C ISBN 92-78-30037-3 Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg /s