Brussels, 27/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - The terms of the next episode concerning the ups and downs of the Eurovignete were specified during a debate organised on 25 May by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER). The European Parliament rapporteur on the Eurovignette, Corien Wortmann-Kool (EPP-ED, NL), gave a glimpse of the position that is to be defended by the European Parliament during second reading. The Council's political agreement is, it says, a useful point of departure, but it considers that the Parliament should move forward on the text on the following points: (1) scope of the directive, which should be extended to the whole trans-European network, TEN, and to the major road axes, including transit routes. The Council agreement resulted in an “à la carte” solution, bearing in mind the principle of subsidiarity, the rapporteur said; (2) account taken of the external costs in calculating weighted average tolls. The calculation base chosen by the Council is the “cost of infrastructure” which integrates the cost of construction, maintenance and development, but which does not internalise external costs (even though the Council was relatively sensitive about environmental issues when authorising variations in toll amounts). The rapporteur predicts a “tough debate” with the Council on this question; (3) allocation of receipts to transport infrastructure: The Parliament hopes to propose an amendment that makes allocation of these receipts to transport infrastructure compulsory; and (4) concessions: the Parliament hopes to include a paragraph that allows Member States to apply tolls on concession sections, including existing concessions.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Enrico Grillo Pasquarelli supported more ambitious proposals than the political agreement reached in Council on 21 April (for the content of the agreement: EUROPE 8933), and affirmed he wanted to follow along these lines, especially by giving his support to the Parliament on the subject of extending the scope to cover the whole of the TEN, and also to internalisation of external costs.
The next stage in the Eurovignette affair is also awaited by the representatives of the rail and route sectors, who are not entirely satisfied with the Council's agreement. “Rail cannot be competitive if the competition conditions are not fair”, that is, if the external costs are not taken into account when calculating road tolls, although they are for the railway, Johannes Ludewig, CER Director, said during Wednesday's discussion. In his view, it is therefore urgent that the text should be amended to allow a new balance to be struck between rail and road. On the subject of allocating receipts to infrastructures, the Commission must be very strict as this gives a unique possibility to improve the trans-European network, especially roads, Johann Grill, Director General of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), said.