Brussels, 12/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission may be contemplating the creation of a ransitional system to replace the ecopoint transit system through Austria, after its expiry in 2003, said Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. She was speaking after her meeting, on Wednesday, with Austrian Vice-Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer; Transport Minister Monika Forstinger; Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner; and Tyrol Minister President Wendelin Weingartner. The transitional system should not, however, take on board the "108% clause" that provides for limiting transit in Austria as soon as a certain traffic threshold has been reached, and it would simply serve to fill the legal void between 2003 and the adoption of a new European eurovignette directive, that should settle the problem of road transit in the alpine region as a whole. The Eurovignette Directive on infrastructure pricing would be modified in order to allow the creation of a fund formed by receipts from road tolls and financing the development of alternative rail infrastructures, the Commissioner told the press. It was also agreed that a "working group" should be created from September, that would specify: 1) content of transitional provisions; 2) the possibility of crossed financing between rail and road; 3) the definition of "sensitive areas" where crossed financing is possible. Ms Riess-Passer welcomed the "understanding" shown by the Commissioner towards Austrian concerns in the run up to enlargement, that will accentuate its central position in European traffic. In the short term, said Mrs Forstinger, Austria will "do what is necessary to verify its statistics" on road transit, with a view to the decision that the Commission should take on 25 July on reducing ecopoints (see EUROPE of 12 July, p.13). "All new systems should be endorsed by the Council and Parliament", warned Ms de Palacio.
The president of the Transport Council, Isabelle Durant, pointed out after her meeting with the Austrian delegation, that "this important question for Austria must not be dodged, but one should take into account the problems of the other 14 Member States and find another rule to replace the 108% clause".