WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3559/98 by Franz LINSER Brenner toll/ transit negotiations with Switzerland
C 289/60 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 11. 10. 1999 (1999/C 289/079) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3559/98 by Franz Linser (NI) to the Council (1 December 1998) Subject: Brenner toll/transit negotiations with Switzerland In reply to a question to the Council by Mr Frischenschlager (ELDR) regarding EU/Switzerland negotiations, Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian Secretary of State and President-in-Office of the Council, speaking on 16 September 1998 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, said that higher levies (for road users) in Switzerland should be accompanied by an increase in the Brenner toll charge. In addition, she stressed that Swiss levies should also be based on infrastructure costs. In view of the approval of the LSVA (levy on heavy vehicles) by the referendum in Switzerland of 27 September 1998, can the Council answer the following questions: 1. In view of the vote in Switzerland on the LSVA and the associated increase in road charges, does the Council consider that the Brenner toll charge should be increased? 2. If not, why not? 3. Does the Council consider that the LSVA is in keeping with the principle that road charging should also be based on infrastructure costs? 4. If not, in what way will this affect the recommendation of the Council to the Commission with regard to further negotiations with Switzerland? Reply (29 March 1999) 1. and 2. The Council’s common position on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures (Eurovignette) was adopted on 18 January 1999. One of the main features of the agreement is the authorisation for Austria to use the toll system, under certain conditions, for the stretch of motorway between Kufstein and Brenner; the rest of Austrian territory will be subject to the Eurovignette system. This is justified given the special conditions on certain Alpine routes and enables charges to be in proportion to the cost of infrastructure. Thus, for the stretch of motorway between Kufstein and Brenner, Austria has said that the weighted average charge would be EUR 84. This seemed to the Commission to be an appropriate amount given the relationship between the weighted average toll and the cost of constructing, maintaining and developing the infrastructure. 3. and 4. Regarding negotiations between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the carriage of goods by rail and by road, the Council gave the Commission a negotiating brief in 1995. The Commission has been pursuing these negotiations since then. Regarding the cost of transit through Switzerland, the Council heard a report on unresolved issues in the negotiations and reached an agreement of principle on a solution to the effect that, after 2005, lorries up to 40 tonnes in weight would be allowed unlimited access to Swiss roads for transit and bilateral access, subject to a charging regime. Under this regime the average charge paid by a 40-tonne lorry will not exceed EUR 200. Cleaner lorries will pay less and dirtier lorries more. This charge will not exceed EUR 180 until the first rail tunnel opens or until 1 January 2008, whichever is sooner