Strasbourg, 03/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - As forecast, the European Parliament on Thursday in Strasbourg rejected the Council's common position on the proposed regulation on the ecopoints systems governing the transit through Austria of heavy lorries, which makes the conciliation procedure inevitable. By adopting all the amendments in outgoing committee on transport chairman Luciano Caveri's recommendation, the Parliament has completely changed Council's common position, by insisting, amongst other things, that the ecopoints system apply only to the transit of traffic across the Austrian Alps, and not the whole of Austria, and imposing restrictions to the transit of heavy goods vehicles in the most sensitive regions, if the proposed directive on infrastructure tariffs does not enter into force at the end of 2004 (EUROPE of 17 June, p.15). Parliament rejected two amendments by the Socialist group and by the Austrian Reinhard Rack (EPP-ED), which called for even stricter restrictions on the transit of heavy goods vehicles.