On Tuesday 31 January, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Transport Committee examined and discussed the European Parliament’s Structural and Cohesion Policy Department’s study on transport emissions pricing instruments.
Among other things, the report notes the wide disparities between the levels of pricing, taxation and application of the ‘polluter pays’ principle among EU Member States in this area.
In addition, the study highlights the need to switch to low and zero emission vehicles and argues that taxation instruments are effective tools for reducing emissions.
“A 10% increase in taxes can reduce CO2 emissions from individual cars by 6-8%”, commented one of the study’s authors in the European Parliament Committee, stressing that externalities should also be taken into account.
On the MEPs’ side, Barbara Thaler (EPP, Austrian) insisted on the strong impact of taxation and pricing on people living in rural areas. “Some cannot always switch to public transport or another type of engine”, she said, arguing for a vision that would take into account “the burden on the rural sector, by region”.
Others, like Ciarán Cuffe (Greens/EFA, Irish), believe that external costs, such as “pollution, damage, hospitalisations” should be analysed and that the focus should also be on the aviation sector.
For Transport Committee chair Karima Delli, attention must also be paid to the fact that taxation must not - for want of alternatives - be unfair. Furthermore, she added, the problem is also that “money from mobility is not reinvested in mobility”.
See the study: https://aeur.eu/f/567 (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)