Brussels, 08/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - As announced in our bulletin yesterday, the Commissioner for Transport, Loyola de Palacio, is expected to present at the end of the month (probably 23 July) the draft directive amending the "Eurovignette directive" on taxing heavy duty vehicles that use certain road infrastructure. The proposal aims to complete the existing Community framework, the internalising of costs (notably environmental) of road transport to promote more rational use of road infrastructure, prevent discrimination between national operators and provide financial support to the construction of new infrastructures.
The draft directive will apply to commercial transport, not private, of the Trans-European road network. As well as the costs already taken into count by the "Eurovignette" directive (such as costs linked to construction, use, maintenance and network development), the proposal will also take into count the costs of accidents not covered by insurance. It will include the chance for Member States to modify tolls according to different factors such as distance covered, level of vehicle pollution, congestion etc. The proposals will also authorise cross-financing: the basic principle will still be the use of receipts from roads for developing road infrastructure in certain sensitive areas, a limited increase in tolls will be allowed, on the condition that they are used to develop other modes of transport, notably railways on the same axis. In order to avoid penalising road users, the setting up of the system could be accompanied by a reduction in annual taxes on vehicles. The proposal also envisages setting up independent bodies in Member States to ensure implementation of the directive provisions.