4.3.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 69/3
In light of the historical circumstances and taking into account the challenges and significant administrative burdens associated with introducing tolls, Member States should benefit from a sufficiently long transitional period during which they should be able to introduce or maintain time-based user charges.
Following that transitional period, Member States should only have the possibility of applying wholly time-based user charges for heavy-duty vehicles on sections of their core trans-European transport network in duly justified cases.
Such duly justified cases should be limited to cases where the application of a toll on heavy-duty vehicles would involve disproportionate administrative, investment and operating costs compared to the expected revenue or benefits generated, for example due to the limited length of the road sections concerned or the relatively low population density or the relatively low traffic, or where the application of a toll would lead to the diversion of traffic with negative impacts on road safety or on public health.
That possibility for Member States in duly justified cases is necessary for key considerations of public interest, such as taking into account the difficult situation and isolation of areas having a low population density, road safety or public health.
In addition, the application of time-based user charges in these duly justified cases should be subject to compliance with procedural requirements: an obligation to assess the need for such a system and an obligation to notify the Commission of its application.
Such notification should include reasons detailing the specific circumstances related to the sections of the core trans-European transport network where time-based user charges are applied.
(13)
Member States that, at the entry into force of this Directive, apply tolls on their core trans-European transport network or on part of it should be able to establish a combined charging system for all heavy-duty vehicles or for some types of heavy-duty vehicles.
However, that option should only be open as a continuation of and supplementary to a tolling system on the core trans-European transport network where the strategically most important nodes and links of the trans-European transport network are located, or on part of it.
That system would allow the Member States to extend and broaden the implementation of the ‘user pays’ and ‘polluter pays’ principles beyond the tolled network, by applying user charges on those sections of the core trans-European transport network which are not covered by tolls or to some types of heavy-duty vehicles, such as those falling under a specific tonnage, that are not subject to tolls.
The combined charging system would thus help Member States make further progress and ensure greener road transport, in particular where no charging system is in place and where tolls are not an economically viable or socially acceptable option.
Additionally, in order to fully respect sustainable mobility principles, the maximum amount of those user charges should vary according to both the Euro emission class and the CO2 emission class of the vehicle.
Based on all those considerations, it is undeniable that the application of such system combining a time-based and a distance-based approach would entail many benefits; therefore, its application should be possible also after the end of the transitional period for wholly time-based systems.
At the latest five years after the entry into force of this Directive, Member States should, when imposing road charges on heavy goods vehicles, impose tolls or user charges on all heavy goods vehicles.
(14)
When strengthening the user and polluter pays principles, certain characteristics of the Member States or their tolling and user charge systems should be taken into consideration.
For example, in respect of particularly sparsely populated areas or a particularly large network of tolled or charged roads, the option of providing for exemptions of road sections should be available.
(15)
Some Member States have large toll networks that include many more motorways and roads than just the ones which are part of the trans-European transport network.
Applying tolls or user charges to all heavy goods vehicles would therefore result in significantly more extensive burdens, especially for small and medium-sized craft businesses (many of which are involved in construction work, and which typically do not provide transport services).
Those burdens would in turn lead to higher prices for example in the area of construction.
Price increases could mean that future investments in particular, such as the energetic renovation of houses and apartments as well as the modernisation of house technology, are postponed or even cancelled.
Also, craft businesses sometimes travel long distances with vehicles in order to provide their services, and those journeys cannot easily be carried out using other modes of transport.
In addition, companies from rural regions, which due to the reduced population density and demand in those regions, are dependent on their ability to provide services and construction activities in metropolitan areas, find themselves in a competitive disadvantage compared to companies operating in large cities or on the outskirts of metropolitan areas.
Therefore, Member States should be given the option to provide for certain charging exemptions, such as that on vehicles used for carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the driver’s use in the course of the driver’s work or used for the delivery of goods produced on a craft basis.
(16)
The possibility to use roads subject to road charging, such as motorways, tunnels or bridges, instead of challenging local roads can be important for persons with disabilities.
In order to allow persons with disabilities to use roads subject to road charging without an additional administrative burden, Member States should be allowed to exempt vehicles of persons with disabilities from the obligation to pay a toll or user charge.