Brussels, 02/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 12 September, the Council of Ministers of the EU approved without debate the amendments of the European Parliament to a draft directive on tolls applicable to heavy goods vehicles (Eurovignette). Italy and Spain voted against and Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal abstained. The amendments voted on by the European Parliament on 7 June 2011 reflect the compromise reached by the two institutions at second reading over the course of the negotiations.
Following this Council green light, the Eurovignette Directive is now adopted. The member states will have two years from the date of publication of the directive in the Official Journal of the European Union to transpose the provisions of this act into their national legislation.
The new European framework law, which is a revision of the 1999 Eurovignette Directive, aims to reduce pollution from road goods transport and to free up the traffic by introducing tolls which take account of the cost of atmospheric and noise pollution caused by traffic (external costs) and help to avoid road congestion. To this end, the member states will be able to charge heavy goods vehicles an external costs charge, to add to the existing infrastructure charge designed to help recover the costs for the construction, maintenance, operation and development of road infrastructure. They will also be able to vary the infrastructure charge to take account of road congestion by means of a maximum variation rate of 175% during rush-hour periods, which will be limited to 5 hours a day.
The costs of the tolls will vary on the basis of vehicle emissions, distance travelled and the time and place of road usage. This sliding scale of charges aims to encourage a move to more environmentally-friendly modes of transport.
The application of tolls which, under the current directive, is mainly limited to the trans-European road network, may now be extended to all motorways.
Vehicles observing the strictest emissions standards will be exempt from the charge for atmospheric pollution for four years starting from the date on which these standards become applicable; this means that vehicles in emissions class EURO VI will be exempt until 31 December 2017. Additionally, EURO V vehicles will be exempt until the date on which the EURO VI standards enter into force, in other words until 31 December 2013. Vehicles with emissions levels below the EURO VI standard, in other words hybrid and electric heavy goods vehicles, will also be exempt.
Furthermore, the member states will be able to exempt vehicles of under 12 tonnes from the tolls if they see fit; if, for example, the application of tolls would create major negative effects or excessive administrative costs. However, they must notify the Commission of the reasons behind this decision.
The infrastructure charge may be increased under certain circumstances in mountainous areas, but this amount will be subtracted from the external costs charge. However, this deduction will not apply to the most polluting vehicles, in other words those in emissions classes EURO 0, I and II, as well as those in class EURO III as of 2015.
Although they are not obliged to do so, the member states are encouraged to spend the revenue from the infrastructure and external costs charges on projects in the transport sector, particularly in favour of the trans-European transport network. There is, however, an obligation to spend revenue accruing from increased infrastructure charges in mountainous areas or from the simultaneous application of such an increase and external costs charges to the most-polluting vehicles. (L.C./transl.fl)