EU countries would be allowed to charge heavy road users for the costs they incur on society, including congestion, air pollution and noise — something prohibited by EU law up till now — according to an early draft of a Commission proposal to revise its ‘Eurovignette Directive‘.

The draft document seen by EurActiv suggests that toll prices on roads could be raised to include medical care for health problems relating to air and noise pollution, but also related productivity losses and welfare costs — for example due to sleep disturbance. Time loss, increased fuel consumption and vehicle maintenance costs caused by congestion, as well as crop losses and damages to the ecosystem caused by pollution could also be taxed. Costs related to traffic accidents, on the other hand, would be excluded.

Such ‘external cost‘ charges could come on top of those already levied in some countries to finance construction and maintenance work. They would be determined by an independent authority, based on formulae set out in the directive. A key aspect is that they would have to vary according to the type of road they are levied on, the time at which they are collected — be it rush hour or nighttime, for example — and the vehicle’s ‘Euro’ emissions class (which covers NOx and particulate matter).

According to the draft, all European roads could be covered by these types of schemes, rather than just the Trans-European Transport Network as is currently the case. The collection of charges would have to be based on an electronic system “which avoids hindrances to the free flow of traffic and can subsequently be extended to a large number of other road sections without additional significant roadside investments“.

Similarly to the existing directive, only vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes , rather than individual cars, would be covered by the new ‘external cost‘ charge, except for charges relating to congestion. Indeed, the text provides that if a country wants to make lorries pay for the congestion they cause, it can only do so if a similar charge is levied on cars too.

As for the money raised from ‘internalising‘ these costs, the draft text states that member states will have to earmark revenues to finance “projects and measures aimed at reducing the external costs of transport, notably traffic management systems, measures to reduce pollution at sources, and the development of alternative infrastructure“.

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