On Monday 8 June, the EU Council’s ‘land transport’ working group examined the Croatian Presidency’s fourth draft compromise on the revision of the so-called ‘Eurovignette’ Directive on charging heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures, a document of which EUROPE has obtained a copy.
In the previous version of the text, it was provided, inter alia, that all States would continue to rely on the ‘EURO’ class of emissions until a new system of varying infrastructure charges and user charges was implemented. The text specified that only those who wished to do so could then abandon this class of emissions in favour of a new system.
According to one diplomatic source, it would indeed be quite conceivable that two systems of varying fees could coexist. Many Member States indeed find it preferable to be able to combine these systems on the grounds that the CO2 emissions-based charging model would precisely cover only the costs of CO2 and not those of other pollutants.
As regards the introduction of such a variation system, the new draft compromise provides in particular for an extension of the deadline for the application of this system for countries with a common charging system.
This deadline has been extended to 3 years from the date of publication of the reference CO2 emissions.
Reducing the administrative burden. In addition, the draft compromise now specifies that, in the event that a driver, a haulier or a European Electronic Toll Service provider is unable to provide proof of a vehicle’s emission class, Member States will be able to apply tolls up to the highest possible level.
Furthermore, Member States are expected to “take the measures necessary to ensure that the [road] user can declare the emission class of the vehicle at least through electronic means before using the infrastructure”.
States may also, according to the revised text, “offer electronic and non-electronic means to enable the user to provide evidence in order to benefit from toll reductions or, where appropriate, in the event of a check”.
Reclassification of vehicles. The previous Croatian draft compromise furthermore provided that vehicles belonging to emission class 2 and vehicles belonging to emission class 3 should be reclassified into class 1 5 years after the date of their first registration. This period has been increased here by 1 year, from 5 to 6 years.
A new provision also provides that the date of reclassification of vehicles will not affect the validity of user charges. The reclassification will take effect “on the first day of validity of the user charge applied for the first time”, the document states.
Finally, this new draft gives the Commission the possibility to adopt delegated acts in order to modify the thresholds for emission classes 2 and 3. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)