OPINION OF THE COMMISSIONpursuant to Article 294(7)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,on the European Parliament's amendment[s]to the Council's position regarding the proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCILamending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures
Date: 2011-07-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: commercial vehicle, road transport tariff, tax collection, toll, transport infrastructure, vehicle tax

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 19.7.2011 
COM(2011) 550 final 

2008/0147 (COD) 

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION 

pursuant to Article 294(7)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
on the European Parliament's amendment[s] 
to the Council's position regarding the  
proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of 
certain infrastructures 

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2008/0147 (COD) 

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION 

pursuant to Article 294(7)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 
on the European Parliament's amendment[s] 
to the Council's position regarding the  
proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of 
certain infrastructures 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Article  294(7)(c)  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union  provides  that  the 
Commission  is  to  deliver  an  opinion  on  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  European 
Parliament  at  second  reading.  The  Commission  sets  out  its  opinion  below  on  the  three 
amendments proposed by the Parliament.  

2. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
the Council1 

08/07/2008 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

16/12/2009 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

11/03/2009 

Date of the Council’s position at first reading (qualified majority): 

15/02/2011 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, second reading 

07/06/2011 

3. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION  

The  current  Directive  1999/62/EC  sets  maximum  rates  that  Member  States  may  charge  to 
heavy  goods  vehicles  for  the  use  of  transport  infrastructure.  However,  in  determining  these 
rates, Member States may not take into account external costs such as air and noise pollution. 
The  Commission's  proposed  changes  will  allow  such  charges  which,  if  introduced,  will 
promote more efficient and cleaner freight transport. Chief among the other proposed changes 
is giving Member States greater flexibility in varying toll rates to promote greater use during 

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non-peak times and ultimately reduce congestion. Lastly the additional revenue generated by 
external cost charging ought to be used to finance projects making transport sustainable.  

4. 

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

The  Committee  on  Transport  and  Tourism  voted  on  12  April  2011  a  recommendation 
consisting of  35 amendments  to the Council’s first-reading position. In accordance with the 
provisions of Article 294 of the TFEU and the joint declaration on practical arrangements for 
the  co-decision  procedure 2,  a  number  of  informal  contacts  took  then  place  between  the 
Council, the European Parliament and the Commission with a view to reaching an agreement 
on  this  dossier  at  second  reading.  Following  these  contacts,  the  Committee  presented  three 
compromise amendments which were subsequently voted by the plenary on 7 June 2011. The 
Commission endorses these amendments. 

4.1. 

Amendments accepted by the Commission 

The Council's position at first reading has already been endorsed by the Commission (see the 
Commission's opinion on the Council's position3). The most important changes introduced by 
the amendments of the European Parliament to the Council's position are:  

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To clarify the Council's mechanism to vary infrastructure charges at peak periods by 
adding provisions to guarantee the revenue neutrality and improve the transparency. 
The  resulting  mechanism  will  provide  a  new  tool  for  Member  States  to  manage 
congestion at peak periods without imposing excessive burden on the road transport 
industry.  

To  insert  a  provision  on  the  use  of  revenues  in  the  transport  sector.  The  provision 
encourages  Member  States  to  invest  the  revenues  of  tolls  in  projects  to  make 
transport  more  sustainable.  It  shall  be  deemed  applied  if  15%  of  the  revenues  are 
used on the trans-European network. Member States will be obliged to report on the 
revenue  raised  and  on  the  investments  made  in  transport.  This  compromise  found, 
although  less  ambitious  than  the  initial  Commission's  proposal,  is  a  clear  step 
forward  to  improve  transparency  in  the  use  of  toll  revenues  and  encourage  new 
investments in transport. 

To authorise in mountain areas the simultaneous application of the existing mark-up 
and  the  new  external  cost  charges  for  Euro  0,  I  and  II  vehicles  and  for  Euro  III 
vehicles as from 2015. A compulsory "miniearmarking" of the revenues generated by 
this combination of charges is also foreseen. This provision will contribute to further 
accelerate  the  introduction  of  cleaner  vehicles  while  generating  additional  revenue 
for building alternatives to road transport. . 

To insert a "rendez-vous clause" based on Commission's reports due respectively 12 
and 48 months after the entry into force of the Directive and where appropriate on a 
Commission's legislative proposal. The content of the reports has been aligned to the 
recent White Paper on transport. 

OJ C 145, 30.6.2007, p. 5. 
COM(2011) 69 final  

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The  Council’s  position  did  not  foresee  any  obligation  for  Member  States  to  transmit  to  the 
Commission  a  correlation  table,  in  spite  of  the  general  line  usually  taken  by  the  European 
Parliament on the matter.  

However, the Hungarian Presidency with the support of the forthcoming Polish, Danish and 
Cypriot Presidencies issued a statement confirming that the adoption of this directive does not 
prejudge the outcome of interinstitutional negotiations on correlation tables (see annex).  

The European Parliament could thus agree with the Council but with a statement (see annex) 
according to which the Commission should inform it within twelve months after adoption of 
this  agreement  in  plenary  and  make  a  report  at  the  end  of  the  transposition  period  on  the 
practice of Member States in drawing up their own tables illustrating, as far as possible, the 
correlation between this Directive and the transposition measures.  

During the plenary of 7 June 2011, the Commission issued a statement which among others 
confirms the commitment of the Commission towards ensuring that Member States establish 
correlation tables linking the transposition measures they adopt with the directive, confirms its 
agreement to produce the information requested by the European Parliament and stresses that 
its position followed in this file shall not be considered as a precedent (see text in annex).  

5. 

CONCLUSION 

Pursuant  to  Article  293(2)  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  the 
Commission amends its proposal by endorsing the amendments as set out above.  

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Statement of the Presidency  

Annex 

"It  is  hereby  declared  that  the  agreement  reached  between  the  Council  and  the 
European Parliament in the trilogue of 23 May 2011 concerning the Directive of the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  amending  Directive  1999/62/EC  on  the 
charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures, Eurovignette, 
does  not  prejudge  the  outcome  of  interinstitutional  negotiations  on  correlation 
tables." 

Statement of the European Parliament  

"The  European  Parliament  regrets  that  the  Council  was  not  prepared  to  accept  the 
mandatory  publication  of  correlation  tables  in  the  context  of  the  proposal  amending 
Directive  1999/62/EC.  It  is  hereby  declared  that  the  agreement  reached  between  the 
European  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  the  trilogue  of  23  May  2011  concerning  the 
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 1999/62/EC on 
the  charging  of  heavy  goods  vehicles  for  the  use  of  certain  infrastructures  (Eurovignette) 
does not prejudge the outcome of interinstitutional negotiations on correlation tables. 

The  European  Parliament  calls  on  the  European  Commission  to  inform  it  within  twelve 
months after adoption of this agreement in plenary and to make a report at the end of the 
transposition  period  on  the  practice  of  Member  States  in  drawing  up  their  own  tables 
illustrating, as far as possible, the correlation between this Directive and the transposition 
measures, and to make them public." 

Statement of the European Commission:  

"The  Commissions  recalls  its  commitment  towards  ensuring  that  Member  States  establish 
correlation tables linking the transposition measures they adopt with the EU  directive and 
communicate them to the Commission in the framework of transposing EU legislation, in the 
interest  of  citizens,  better-law  making  and  increasing  legal  transparency  and  to  assist  the 
examination of the conformity of national rules with EU provisions. 

The Commission regrets the lack of support for the provision included in the proposal for a 
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 1999/62/EC on 
the  charging  of  heavy  goods  vehicles  for  the  use  of  certain  infrastructures  (Eurovignette), 
which aimed at rendering the establishment of correlation tables obligatory. 

The Commission, in a spirit of compromise and in order to ensure the immediate adoption of 
that  proposal,  can  accept the  substitution  of the  obligatory  provision  on  correlation  tables 
included  in  the  text  with  a  relevant  recital  encouraging  Member  States  to  follow  this 
practice. It will inform within twelve months after adoption of this agreement in plenary and 
make  a  report  at  the  end  of  the  transposition  period  on  the  practice  of  Member  States  to 
draw up, for themselves and in the interests of the Union, their own tables illustrating, as far 
as  possible,  the  correlation  between  this  Directive  and  the  transposition  measures,  and  to 
make them public. 

However, the position followed by the Commission in this file shall not be considered 
as  a  precedent.  The  Commission  will  continue  its  efforts  with  a  view  to  finding 
together with  the  European  Parliament and the  Council an  appropriate  solution to 
this horizontal institutional issue." 

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