The Council presented a consolidated version of the agreement on rail, road and combined transport of goods between the Community and Switzerland, that also includes the final act and the signatures of all of the contracting parties.
It should be recalled that this agreement will cover:
- maintaining the freedom of transit for road transport vehicles crossing Switzerland, on the basis of reasonable levies, in other words, based on internal and external costs and on the level of levies in force on the main trans-Alpine transport routes of bordering countries;
- the introduction in Switzerland of new pricing systems for road transport on the basis of a precise timetable, linked to the availability of new rail capacities and the application of Community standards concerning vehicle weights;
- the prevention of diversions of traffic from Switzerland to neighbouring countries;
- the reciprocal liberalisation of bilateral road transport and transit operations;
- immediate access to 40 tonne vehicles to the main Swiss economic centres, as well as the gradual reduction in the duration of the prohibition of night traffic of heavy vehicles;
- reciprocal extension of access to the rail network, based on the acquis communautaire;
- the adoption by Switzerland of legislative acts equivalent to certain aspects of the acquis in the fields of road and rail transport, as well as a timetable for the gradual adoption of Community rules regarding weights and dimensions of vehicles;
- the respect by Switzerland of Community rules concerning State aids to road transport.
The agreement will provide a sufficient level of competitiveness in rail and combined transport in relation to trans-Alpine road transport. It should also translate into a significant reduction in road traffic which is currently rejected on to the Community's Alpine crossings because of the limitation on vehicle weights in Switzerland.�