European Parliament rapporteur in charge of the revision of Directive 1999/62/EC, known as the Eurovignette directive, Christine Revault d’Allonnes Bonnefoy (S&D, France) and the shadow rapporteurs will meet on Tuesday 15 May for a final time to come to agreement on the remaining points. This was announced by Revault d’Allonnes Bonnefoy herself on Monday 14 May during an exchange on the compromise amendments in the Parliamentary transport committee.
Revision of the Eurovignette directive falls within the first mobility package proposed by the European Commission on 31 May 2017 (see EUROPE 11799) which gave rise to an ambitious report drafted by Revault d’Allonnes Bonnefoy. This report was well received by her transport committee colleagues (see EUROPE 11940 and 11944). The shadow rapporteurs have emphasised the fine cooperation they have enjoyed with the rapporteur during negotiations.
After a number of meetings, several points had been agreed, as Revault d’Allonnes Bonnefoy affirmed. These relate to the ending of the time-based vignette system for heavy- and light-duty vehicles on 31 December 2022 and the introduction of a payment system based on distance covered, provisions relating to the earmarking of revenue from the collection of levies, reduced charges for frequent users and provisions for mountainous and remote regions.
Points remain to be settled, however, on ending the vignette system for light vehicles, congestion charges and infrastructure charges on secondary roads onto which traffic may be diverted from the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The compromise amendments put forward by the rapporteur on these last two points do not, for the moment, have the support of the EPP Group.
EUROPE will return to the detail of the agreement which will be put to the vote in the transport committee on 24 May. In the Council of the European Union, discussions on the Commission proposal have still not begun, with national delegations focusing on the sensitive points in the package, relating to social issues. A Commission representative stated that, in discussions, the incoming Austrian Presidency of the Council had indicated its intention to open the debate in the course of the latter half of the year. (Original version on French by Lucas Tripoteau)