Brussels, 30/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - Despite the major disagreements that until very recently affected the Eurovignette (revised directive on taxing heavy-duty vehicles for using certain infrastructure), it now appears that the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers will manage to obtain a common position on the draft directive at the next Transport Council on 15 October. The Presidency's proposed compromise appears to have the in-principle support of most delegations, apart from certain peripheral states (Spain and Italy), as well as Germany, which would have preferred to put discussions off until December. Once adopted, the directive will enable member states to introduce charges for using road infrastructure, when external costs are caused by the road sector (noise and air pollution, as well as traffic congestion, according to the initial proposal).
The proposals currently being examined (the discussion took place at the Committee of Permanent Representatives on Wednesday 29 September) reduce the list of external costs included in the initial directive proposal and remove a direct congestion charge. Nonetheless, congestion costs might be covered through programming charges paid through use of infrastructure introduced by the 2004 Eurovignette directive and possible rush hour surcharges. The surcharge ceiling, the definition of the rush hour period during which surcharges can be applied or the method for calculating surcharges, are still technical questions member states need to resolve. The draft compromise also introduces greater flexibility to the provisions on re-allocation of revenue from the Eurovignette, which in the initial proposal of the text, are expected to be subject to an obligation to reinvest in the transport sector (this point is fiercely defended by the European Parliament). In this domain, member states might be able to benefit from free arbitration, in so far as the compromise stipulates that revenue “should be” (and not “is expected to be”) reallocated to the transport sector. The compromise also settles the question of the directive's field of application, by proposing that it applies to all Trans-European Network (TEN-T) roads, as well as connected roads and motorways that are part of the network (the European Commission proposal supported by the Parliament suggests application to all European roads).
The Parliament rapporteur on the revised draft directive, Saïd El Khadraoui (S&D, Belgium), strongly criticised a recent report by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) on the cost of introducing the Eurovignette (EUROPE 10211). Community figures in the report are highly exaggerated and based on biased data in order to “put pressure on the Presidency and create public distrust” of the Eurovignette, explained El Khadraoui. He also pointed out that price increases provoked by the internalisation of external costs included in this directive would be insignificant and that the proposal was a non-binding enabling text (EUROPE 9793). (A.By./transl.fl)