Luxembourg, 11/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - In its Austria vs. the Council ruling, 13 judges at the European Court of Justice have annulled the provision in Council Ecopoints Regulation 2000 by which the reduction in ecopoints made as a result of excess journeys in 1999 was spread over the years 2000 to 2003, it held that its effects are to be regarded as definitive.
This staggering runs counter to a protocol in Austria's Act of Accession to the EU providing for a mechanism for reducing total NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions by means of ecopoints, explained the Court.
The Court ruled that "because of the need for legal certainty, the Court has decided that the effects of the relevant article of the Regulation are to be regarded as definitive".
The European judges ruled that "no essential procedural requirements had been infringed during the formal adoption procedure and, as a result, the regulation is not to be annulled in its entirety."
Statistics drawn up in September 2000 showed that, in 1999, traffic had increased by nearly 15% of the 1991 figure. According to the Commission and the Council, if the reduction in ecopoints had been applied to 2000, all transit of heavy goods vehicles through Austria would have had to be prohibited in the last quarter of 2000.
The solution decided upon was to stagger the reduction over four years, from 2000 to 2003 (30% of the reduction in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and 10% in 2003).