Brussels, 09/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 9 December, EU Transport Ministers noted the progress report on the draft revised Eurovignette directive (a proposal amending the directive on road charging for taxing heavy goods vehicles), which proposes varying toll charges depending on the external costs resulting from road transport. Despite broad agreement among delegations on the principle of the directive (the polluter pays) and various technical details, a large number of questions remain to be resolved (see EUROPE 9799). Some delegations (Netherlands, Finland, Slovenia, Sweden, Slovakia and Greece) would like the congestion charge to be applied to motor cars, and not just heavy goods vehicles as provided for in the text. Others, such as Spain, Italy and Portugal, fear that additional charges would penalise their hauliers and would prefer a cautious, progressive approach. Belgium and Austria also proposed including the costs of CO2 emissions. Ireland is against including a charge related to congestion. Germany believes that there should be nothing that favours any one form of transport. Discussions will continue under the Czech Presidency on the basis of the draft compromise drawn up by the French Presidency. (A.By./transl.rt)