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(2004/C 84 E/0637)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0259/04

by Giacomo Santini (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 February 2004)

Subject:   Introduction of tolls on state highway 47, Valsugana

The autonomous province of Trento has announced that it intends to introduce road tolls on state highway 47 in Valsugana, Italy, within the territory under its jurisdiction.

The tolls would affect only passenger and international haulage vehicles.

Given the existing problems with road links between the Veneto region and the Brenner pass and the bureaucratic and political delays hampering the completion of the A 31 Valdastico motorway, which mean that Valsugana is the natural transit route for those wishing to travel from the Veneto and Friuli regions to the Brenner pass and to the centre of Europe, and bearing in mind the recent Commission guidelines on road pricing, will the Commission say:

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 March 2004)

The Commission is not aware of the plans to apply tolls in Valsugana in Italy which the Honourable Member is referring to.

The specific Community legal instrument for the levying of taxes, tolls and user charges is Directive 1999/62/EC (1). It is targeted to heavy goods vehicles of 12 tonnes and more. It is to be underlined that Member States levying tolls on goods vehicles below 12 tonnes and for passenger vehicles, including long distance coaches, do not have to comply with the provisions contained in Directive 1999/62/EC as such vehicles fall outside its scope.

Whether other vehicles than those covered by Directive 1999/62/EC are tolled or not, is a matter of subsidiarity, where Member States can make more efficient decisions taking into account local circumstances.

In any case, tolls may not discriminate, directly or indirectly, on the grounds of the nationality of the haulier or the origin or destination of the vehicle. As far as heavy goods vehicles are concerned, tolls may only be levied on motorways and roads with similar characteristics. In addition, Member States are bound to respect the free movement provisions contained in the Treaties: in particular, they must refrain from adopting measures which are capable of hindering intra-Community trade, as would be the case for an unreasonably high toll applied on one particular route mostly used by hauliers travelling from and to other Member States.

In order to further develop the transparency of tolls and to implement the ‘user pays’ principle, in July 2003) the Commission made a proposal for a Directive of the Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures (2), covering all goods vehicles of more than 3,5 tonnes using roads on the Trans-European Network (TEN). This proposal also includes the possibility to have mark-ups to the tolls in sensitive areas, intended to finance transport infrastructure projects of high European interest in the same zone or corridor. Tolls concerning other vehicles or other roads will be left to subsidiarity.

The Commission will contact the Italian Authorities in order to clarify the points raised by the Honourable Member.

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(1)  Directive 1999/62/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructure, OJ L 187, 20.7.1999.

(2)  COM(2003)448 final, 2003/0175 (COD).

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