A3-0136/94

Resolution on the recommendation for a Council decision on the opening of negotiations between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on road and air transport

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its resolution of 24 February 1994 concerning the opening of negotiations between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on road and air transport, which included its opinion on the procedures to be followed in giving the Commission the negotiating brief,

-having regard to the Commission recommendation for a Council decision on the opening of negotiations between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on road and air transport,

-having regard to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation on the carriage of goods by road and rail and to the Administrative Arrangement concerning the application of the overflow system laid down in that Agreement, which entered into force on 22 January 1993,

-having regard to the referendum held in Switzerland on 20 February 1994 on the people's initiative for the protection of the Alpine region against transit traffic,

-having regard to its opinion delivered on 30 October 1992 on the above Agreement; and to its resolutions of 16 November 1988 on the Community's relations with certain third countries in the transport sector; 12 June 1991 on the danger to the natural and semi-natural habitats in the Alps (EC and EFTA countries) posed by the steady increase in summer and winter tourism in these areas; 10 July 1991 on relations between the European Community and the members of EFTA in the transport sector; 18 September 1992 on the Green Paper on the impact of transport on the environment: a Community strategy for 'sustainable mobility'; 16 November 1993 on air transport relations with third countries; 27 May 1993 on the White Paper on the future development of the common transport policy; and 18 January 1994 on the future development of the common transport policy,

-having regard to the Agreement establishing the European Economic Area (EEA), signed in Oporto on 2 June 1992,

-having regard to the Commission communication on future relations with Switzerland (COM(93)0486) and to the conclusions issued by the Council of the European Union on 10 November 1993 concerning that document (9830/93 AELE 73),

-having regard to Rule 90(2) of the Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A3-0136/94),

A.whereas the transport Agreement in force between the EC and Switzerland relates solely to transit traffic and does not cover air transport, road transport from the territory of one Party to the territory of the other, or matters connected with market access and technical and social harmonization,

B.having regard to the situation brought about in Switzerland by the referendum of 6 December 1992, which produced a majority in favour of rejection of the EEA Agreement, of which the Transit Agreement was intended to form a significant additional part,

C.whereas Annex 8 to the Agreement in force stipulates that should the EEA fail to come into being, the Community and Switzerland are to open negotiations with a view to granting reciprocal access to road transport markets and whereas a joint declaration recorded in the minutes points to the importance of liberalizing the air transport sector,

D.whereas the Council has pointed to the need for relations between the EC and Switzerland to be pursued in key areas such as transport, free movement of persons, research, access to the market in agricultural commodities, technical barriers to trade, access to public works contracts, and so forth,

E.whereas it is appropriate that the negotiations, while still being held at the same time, should not reciprocally influence the contents of the other negotiations in the various sectors,

F.whereas any agreement with Switzerland in the transport sector will in all probability be put to the vote in a referendum and thus constitutes a fundamentally political issue entailing implications for Switzerland's future accession to the EC,

G.whereas remedies to the environmental problems posed by transport in the Alpine region are to be achieved inter alia by restoring a more even balance between the different modes,

H.having regard to the detrimental effect of Swiss transport policy on transit traffic with nearly 90% of goods carried in transit being transferred to rail as a result of the 28-tonne limit, and whereas this situation can only worsen following the referendum of 20 February 1994 and will encourage more traffic to be diverted via Austria,

I.whereas, however, any limits imposed on transit traffic must be of a non-discriminatory nature and must not be intended to undermine the principle of free movement supported by the Community,

J.whereas the result of the Swiss referendum on the people's initiative for the protection of the Alpine region calls into question if not the letter, then the spirit, of the EC-Switzerland transit agreement currently in force; whereas it will therefore be necessary to consider the outcome of the study to be submitted shortly by the Commission to the Council and Parliament,

K.whereas the Council has temporarily suspended the analysis of the negotiating draft in the road and air transport sector following the results of the referendum,

L.whereas the establishment of European airspace, regulated in accordance with fair competition, is the goal which the future sector agreement with Switzerland must seek to attain,

M.whereas, finally, transport, since it constitutes a service, must be dealt with under the common transport policy pursued in relation to third countries and not under the heading of common commercial policy,

1.Believes that the Council should give the Commission a brief to negotiate an air and road transport agreement with the Swiss Confederation and hopes that such a brief will be given in the near future;

2.Takes the view that, given the specific nature of the legal basis for the negotiations with the Swiss Confederation contained in the transit agreements, the contents of this area of negotiation should not be affected by the negotiations concerning other sectors;

3.Calls on the Council to take account of Parliament's views in this resolution when giving a negotiating brief to the Commission;

4.Considers, however, that if such a brief is to be given to conduct external negotiations, the European institutions will need to work in close cooperation, in accordance with the Luns-Westerterp procedure and Article 228 of the EC Treaty;

5.Reiterates the view expressed in its abovementioned opinion of 30 October 1992, its abovementioned resolution of 18 September 1992 and its opinion of 25 June 1993 on the agreement between the EEC and Slovenia in the field of transport, namely that the EC is bound by the Transit Agreement with Switzerland both as regards duration and as regards the substance (contracts are to be kept) and points out that the transit agreements facilitate traffic, bearing in mind the need to modernize transport infrastructure, combined transport and environmental factors;

6.Believes that the Union, Austria and Switzerland must in future find a joint approach to solving the problems of Alpine transit;

7.Takes the view that it must be clearly understood in Switzerland that, following the result of the Swiss referendum on the people's initiative for the protection of the Alpine region, new ideas must also be put forward on domestic heavy goods transport and trans-Alpine traffic originating in Switzerland;

Road transport

8.Believes that the agreement on road transport should relate to the acquis communautaire as a whole, including cabotage and the harmonization of vehicle weights and sizes, so as to ensure that road transport operates more efficiently and in an environmentally sustainable way;

9.Takes the view, consequently, that in the EU, non-discriminatory traffic and emission limits need to be studied and should apply throughout the Alpine region and in other ecologically sensitive areas;

10.Calls on the Commission to develop manageable criteria for the 'sensitive-area notion' as well as concrete measures to be taken;

11.Believes that in addition to any liberalization agreement along the lines set out above, further steps should be taken with a view to restoring balance between the different modes, a process already begun under the existing Transit Agreement;

12.Is of the opinion, moreover, that the scope of liberalization should also extend to the transport operations undertaken by Community carriers on routes between Switzerland and the EEA countries;

Air transport

13.Notes with satisfaction that the negotiations are to focus on the incorporation of all the Community provisions currently in force - including the third air transport liberalization package and the rules on state aids and competition - and the fifth-freedom rights to be granted by Switzerland to Community carriers in respect of services between Switzerland and the other EFTA countries;

14.Considers that it will be necessary to devise the institutional machinery required for the enforcement of Community law, following the 'single pillar' example adopted for the purposes of the Norway-Sweden Air Agreement, albeit making the adjustments appropriate to the particular circumstances;

15.Considers that, in any case, the European Union must safeguard during the negotiations the principles of reciprocity, the elimination of any discrimination, the avoidance of unilateral measures and the recognition of the freedom of users to choose their preferred form of transport;

16.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the governments of the Member States and of the Swiss Confederation.