On Monday 1 April, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union submitted to national delegations a first draft compromise, of which EUROPE had a copy, on the revision of Directive 1999/62/EC on road infrastructure charging.
This is the first draft compromise presented on this issue, while the Commission put forward a proposal in May 2017, as part of the first ‘mobility’ package (see EUROPE 11799/6). Several meetings of the EU Council's ‘land transport’ working party allowed for national experts to discuss this issue at the beginning of the year.
It should be noted that Bucharest suggests here that Member States can no longer introduce time-based user charges (such as 'vignette' types) for heavy duty vehicles (maximum permissible mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes) from the entry into force of the directive and that user charges introduced before that date can be maintained for up to five years after the entry into force of the text. It is also proposed that Member States no longer introduce user charges for minibuses and light commercial vehicles from the date of entry into force of the text and that the current regimes on this point can be maintained after ten years.
In addition, the monthly and bimonthly rates of the current user charges compared to the annual rates are, in this first draft compromise, revised upwards in line with the Commission's proposal.
The Romanian Presidency of the EU Council is also of the opinion that Member States levying tolls may apply an external-cost charge to heavy duty commercial vehicles on certain parts of the network when the environmental damage caused by these vehicles is greater than that caused on average by these vehicles on other roads. This is in contrast to the Commission's wish that these external-cost charges should, in this case, be mandatory from 1 January 2021.
Finally, among the suggestions in this draft compromise, it should be noted that some provisions may not be applied by Member States on roads covered by ‘concession contracts’ signed before the entry into force of the text. This, up until this contract is either renewed or substantially amended.
A first discussion on this draft text will take place in a working group on 8 April. A political agreement ('general approach') is targeted by Bucharest for June.
The European Parliament marked its position at first reading on this issue last October (see EUROPE 12125/2). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)