On Wednesday 30 June, EU Member States approved the final compromise text for the revision of the ‘Eurovignette’ directive (see EUROPE 12742/13) on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures.
The vignettes for heavy goods vehicles will be phased out on the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) over an eight-year period. Member States will be able to claim exemptions in “duly justified cases“.
It will be possible for Member States to combine vignettes with a distance-based system, if a vignette system is already in force. Member States will be able to choose whether or not to charge for other types of vehicles.
Fees will vary according to environmental performance. This system will initially only apply to heavy goods vehicles. Vans will also be subject to a mandatory scheme from 2026.
External cost charges for noise and air pollution will be introduced for heavy goods vehicles after a transitional period of four years.
“While a majority of countries approved the text, not all of them supported it, and there were strong reservations”, a diplomatic source told EUROPE. Adding: “For some Member States, who put everything together, with the signposting, the vignette, the tolls, it was a lot to swallow. With the future work, if no agreement had been reached, the Eurovignette issue would have fallen several years behind schedule”.
It now remains to be seen what the outcome will be in the European Parliament plenary session. “ The S&D and Renew Europe groups were the only groups to support this agreement. The EPP is expected to be divided on the issue, and there is a strong chance that the other groups will vote against it”, a source close to the dossier told EUROPE, in the wake of the interinstitutional agreement reached between the co-legislators on 15 June.
See the analysis of the final compromise text by the EU Council: https://bit.ly/3h2xahg (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)