Brussels, 30/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - With the European Commission about to unveil its “green transport package”, which contains a way of internalising external costs, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) held a conference entitled “Polluter pays, problem stays” in Brussels on 26 June. Criticism focused on the Commission method, which is based on the “polluter pays” approach, which will require polluters - in this instance, road hauliers - to pay a tax, through a vignette, to compensate for the pollution (emissions, noise) caused. President of the IRU Goods Transport Liaison Committee Bertil Dahlin said that this was just another burden on road hauliers and that the revenue generated might not even be used to find a solution to the pollution, but will, ultimately, hit consumers' purchasing power. “The Commission is basing its proposal on the polluter pays principle, contradicting the aims of the Lisbon strategy for sustainable development, job creation and competitiveness,” went on Dr Dieter Schmidtchen of the Centre for the Study of Law and Economics (Germany). He argued for the “cheapest cost avoider” principle, an assessment of costs and profits before decisions are taken which seeks to “avoid unnecessary expense and improve the welfare of those involved”. The lack of detail on the definition of external costs, the failure to take existing taxes into consideration and the risk of revenues for road-charging just cross-subsidising inefficient transport modes, as highlighted by Michael Neilsen, a member of the Permanent Delegation of the IRU to the EU, are at the centre of the organisation's concerns over the eurovignette directive. (A.D./transl.rt)