Belgian Presidency unlocks the controversial Eurovignette reform proposal

On 15 October, EU Transport Ministers reached a political agreement on the reform of the Eurovignette directive, a directive of 1999 which is regulating the conditions under which road tolls can be levied for heavy goods vehicles (+ 3.5 tonnes).
The original Eurovignette Directive (1999) sets out a framework for Member States who want to levy road charges on heavy goods vehicles for using the roads that are part of the trans-European network. The purpose of this framework, which does not oblige Member States to levy road charges, is to avoid that national systems are so different, that they hinder the good functioning of the internal market. Therefore, if a Member State is applying road tolls, some EU rules should be respected. The current directive only allows for ‘user charges’ (time-based charges, e.g. per day, per week, per year) or tolls (distance-based charges e.g. per kilometre) on lorries above 3.5 tonnes - small lorries - provided that it does not result in any discrimination and that the charges are set at a level which does not exceed the recovery of costs which are strictly necessary to maintain and replace the road infrastructure. The current legislation only relates to infrastructure costs. 11 Member States are currently applying tolls and 10 apply user charges, out of which 2 are considering to replace their user charges by tolls.
The aim of the reform of the current system is to allow not only for the recovery of infrastructure costs but also for the recovery of external costs of transport, which is not possible under the current rules.
The compromise that was achieved under Belgian Presidency can be considered as a breakthrough. Under the agreement, Member States may introduce an external cost charge, which will require hauliers to pay for the cost of air and noise pollution caused by their vehicles. Ministers did not agree to introduce a congestion charge as a constant element of the external cost charge but introduced instead the principle of a peak charge, allowing Member States to levy higher charges during peak times, with a view of easing traffic jams.
The amount of levies will vary depending on the vehicle class and emissions, the distance travelled, the location and the time of day. As an incentive to opt for cleaner vehicles and to consider taking less busy routes, differentiated charging will contribute to cutting down fuel consumption and combating climate change.
Once formalised this agreement of the Transport Ministers has to pass the European Parliament for a second reading. Only if Parliament and Council agree on the same text and principles the reform goes through.

Source: Transportweekly