Brussels, 20/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - Giving a rapid but partial response to the wish expressed in Laeken by Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel (see EUROPE Special Edition of 16 December, p.6, on the Summit of Laeken), the European Commission adopted, on Thursday, a regulation extending the current ecopoints system, which could possibly allow the chapter on transport to be concluded in the membership negotiations before the end of the year. The extension of the ecopoints system was the condition set by Austria for lifting its veto following negotiations on transport in the context of enlargement. It remains to be seen whether the extension of the current system will be enough for Vienna, in so far as Austria wanted the system to cover all of its territory and not just certain Alpine routes. The regulation provides for the current system to be extended during one year with the possibility of a further one year extension. The system will become obsolete if, in the meantime, the tariff system applied to the EU infrastructures is set in place.