EU thinks again on Austrian permits
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II EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio has backed down on her proposals not to issue any further truck permits for entry into Austria.
The Commissioner has now decided to issue 1.5 million ecopoints—the equivalent of 240,000 freight journeys—until a final agreement is reached in late September on the issue of pollution levels across the Alpine passes.
De Palacio's U-turn follows criticism from Germany.
Last month the EC decided that commercial traffic was running above a pre-determined threshold and proposed to cut back on the number of points awarded to each member state.
Freight traffic can increase while the number of points available remains static because more operators are running environmentally friendly trucks which need fewer points to enter the country.
The Freight Transport Association believes UK operators are unlikely to be affected by any reduction in ecopoints.