Road transport: ecopoints for heavy vehicles travelling through Austria

The European Parliament voted 303 to 253 with 18 abstentions to approve the Commission proposal to amend the system of ecopoints for heavy goods vehicles through Austria. In other words, MEPs did not follow the recommendations of its rapporteur to reject it. In a seperate resolution however, the House voted 511 to 38 with 24 abstentions to ask the Commission to assess the impact of ecopoints system on competition between Member States. Moreover, the House called on the Commission to put forward a coherent transport strategy for the whole Alpine region from 2004 which will give due consideration not only to the transport requirements but also to the environmental requirements of the Alpine region. There is also support for an upper ceiling on the number of journeys until the ecopoints system expires at the end of 2003. Provision should be made for a more appropriate system of sanctions than the existing one for cases where the upper ceiling is exceeded.�