Brussels, 17/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Commission confirmed that it would be presenting "from this week" a proposal for extension of the Austrian transit system, known as the ecopoint system, in compliance with the requests made by the Heads of State and Government. Under pressure from Austria, which threatened to block candidate countries' membership negotiations, the Laeken Summit points out in its conclusions that: "As an interim solution, the European Council asks the Commission to submit a proposal for an extension of the ecopoint system, as provided for in Protocol 9 to the Act of Accession of Austria in order to conclude the transport chapter in the accession negotiations before the end of the year". Gilles Gantelet, Spokesperson for Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, pointed out on Monday that the Commissioner's intention was to present a proposal this week that would be submitted to the Council and Parliament, while stressing that the decision to close the transport chapter of accession negotiations could not wait for the end of the decision-making process on ecopoints. "The Commission undertakes to present a text, its word must be enough for closing the transport chapter", he insisted.