Brussels, 15/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - According to the preliminary report submitted by the “weights and measures” group on Thursday 10 July and drawn up by the European Commission, implementation of the modular concept (introduction of lorries that are more than 25 meters long and weighing more than 60 tonnes) will not have a negative impact on the environment or European infrastructure and could generate savings of more than EUR 20bn by 2020. It could, nonetheless, slow down development of rails transport and the internal waterways. The European Commission has based its approach on this report and will have to decide on a possible revision of directive 96/53 which (except for the permitted exceptions in national traffic) limits the length of heavy duty lorries to 18.25 meters and their weight to 40 tonnes (EUROPE 9370). Tests are currently continuing in Germany, Netherlands and Demark on these giant lorries and they are allowed in Sweden and Finland. France, Austria (where 33% of goods are transported by rail), Hungary and Germany at a federal level and to a lesser extent in Central Europe remain firmly opposed or cautious about this concept which they believe could compromise competitiveness on the railways, increase costs for infrastructure adaptation (especially for bridges and tunnels) and increase the seriousness of accidents. The report can be consulted at: http: //http://www.tmleuven.be/project/weightanddimensions/documents/home.htm (A.By./trans/rh)