Bulgaria, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Greece, France and Italy have not approved the proposal by the Czech Presidency of the EU Council on the ‘Eurovignette’ directive during the Economic and Financial Affairs Council held on Tuesday 8 November.
It is the last of the seven proposals in the mobility package that has not yet been adopted (see EUROPE 12893/15) and the revision concerns the taxation of heavy goods vehicles. The Czech Presidency’s proposal was to lower the minimum rates to zero upon the entry into force of the directive so that Member States are able to keep their existing heavy goods vehicle tax rates (see EUROPE 13056/19).
“The main objective of the proposal is to give the Member States more flexibility in setting the taxation rates on heavy goods vehicles and allow them to reduce the rights to zero. This could then lead to a reduction of administrative burden for the tax administration”, emphasised Czech Minister Zbyněk Stanjura at the public session.
He said that the text would save costs and reduce the administrative burden for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the sector.
Although the European Commission has demonstrated that direct reductions in minimum rates would provide little incentive for road haulage companies to relocate, the risk that competition becomes distorted and a race to the bottom were the main obstacles in reaching an agreement that requires unanimity among Member States.
“We fear that the introduction of zero tax rates will lead to a race to the bottom and second, we think this is an awkward time to go for lower taxes because we desperately are trying to keep our budgets in order in the face of the pandemic and the energy crisis”, argued Harald Waglein, Director General of the Austrian Ministry of Finance.
Mr Stanjura also referred the work back to the technical level in order to find “a balanced compromise acceptable to all Member States”. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)