1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148 
European Commission challenges Austria's motorway truck ban
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AUSTRIA'S DECISION to ban heavy trucks from a section of the Al2 motorway in Tyrol is to be challenged by the European Commission (EC) at the European Court of Justice.
A ban on HGVs over 7.5 tonnes transporting certain goods such as waste, stone, rubble and construction materials has been in place since May 2008; this year Austria plans to extend it to other product groups.
Following a breakdown in discussions between Austria and the EC on the issue, the EC has decided to take legal action to force Austria to overturn the ban.
Giinter Verheugen, vice-president of the EC, says: "We tried for a long time to find a mutually agreed solution. We reached agreement in several important areas and in the end were very close to a solution. That has now been rejected by Austria. It is for the court to decide now."