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(2004/C 65 E/191)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2549/03

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 August 2003)

Subject:   Differentiated toll — eco-sensitive areas

There is an urgent need to designate eco-sensitive areas in Europe taking account of features related to the countryside, agriculture, ecology, archaeology, art history and the economy, whilst preserving a free market and bearing in mind the transport regulations put forward in the White Paper of 12 September 2001 (1).

An increased road-use charge should be introduced in these eco-sensitive areas of EUR 1 per kilometre travelled for each lorry of 3,5 t and over. The revenue should be used specifically to promote alternative forms of transport (rail, etc.), and for environmental protection and nature conservation in the area concerned.

At present, Italy charges around 10 cent per kilometre travelled for each lorry of 3,5 t and over.

Germany is to charge around 15 cent per kilometre travelled for each lorry of 12 t and over from 2004 onwards.

Austria is to charge around 12 cent per kilometre travelled for each lorry of 3,5 t and over from 2004 onwards.

A special tariff of EUR 2,4 per lorry and kilometre travelled (known as the Brenner toll) is charged in Austria on the section between Innsbruck and the Brenner (a distance of 34,5 km) for lorries with more than three axles.

Can the Commission give a specific statement of its position on this proposal?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(17 September 2003)

On 23 July 2003 the Commission adopted the proposal (2) for the modification of Directive 1999/62/EC (3). It provides a framework that will enable Member States, with due regard for the subsidiarity principle, to give economic incentives to transport in the form of a price structure that better reflects the costs to society. It is not so much the level of charges on transport as the structure of the charges and the manner in which they are applied to the various categories of users that need to change.

The proposed framework covers the trans-European road network and any other road to which traffic may be diverted from the trans-European road network and which is in direct competition with certain parts of that network. Such traffic diversion has serious consequences in terms of traffic regulation and congestion, not to mention accidents; it was therefore appropriate to include them in the scope of the Community Directive. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the Member States remain free to apply tolls on roads not covered by the proposal for a Directive, provided they comply with the rules and principles laid down in the EC Treaty.

The existing legislation links charges only approximately to damage to infrastructure, congestion or accident risks. The proposed Directive, therefore, gives Member States the possibility of varying tolls according to a number of factors: distance travelled; the damage caused to roads according to the type of vehicle; the environmental impact in terms of the EURO emission standards for heavy goods vehicles; the time of day; and the level of congestion on the road concerned. Whereas the existing Community rules apply only to heavy goods vehicles of at least 12 tonnes, the system proposed by the Commission would apply to all lorries exceeding 3,5 tonnes used for goods transport.

The revenue from infrastructure charges should be used for the benefit of the transport sector. In certain cases, there should be scope for cross-financing of infrastructure providing an alternative to road transport. To that end, the Commission's proposal lays down that the revenue from the charging system must be ploughed back into the road infrastructure concerned for its maintenance and into the transport sector as a whole, taking due account of the balanced development of the transport networks.

The proposal for a Directive allows the Member States to apply mark-ups to tolls for using roads in particularly sensitive areas, notably mountainous regions. Such mark-ups will be used to cross-finance the investment costs of other transport infrastructures of a high European interest. The construction of such infrastructure is increasingly necessary in view of the density and growth of traffic in such regions.

In parallel to the work on infrastructure charging, the Commission is conducting a study on the topic of sensitive areas and transport. The study should be finished by the end of 2003. The Commission will publish the results at that time and consider how to follow up on them.

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(1)  COM(2001) 370 final.

(2)  COM(2003) 448 final.

(3)  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 infrastructures, OJ L 187, 20.7.1999.

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