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Race against time for Euro HGV pollution tax
Page 6
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CM COVER STORY
By Patric Cunnane (additional reporting by Chris Tindattl TIME IS RUNNING out for a pollution tax on HGVs after the European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee voted to approve the latest draft report on the Eurovignette Directive.
If passed, the directive will allow member states to charge HGVs for using major roads on the basis of air and noise pollution, while introducing congestion charges at peak hours for lorries. The revenue collected will then be earmarked for research into cleaner vehicles, improved infrastructure and alternative modes of transport.
The directive, sponsored by Belgian MEP Said El Khadraoui, and previously revealed by CM ('Moving towards a European lorry tax', CM 9 October 2008) is described as a revision of the 1999 Eurovignette Directive.
A spokesman for the Transport Committee says that proposals to include congestion charging and to earmark revenues for transport purposes will prove controversial, especially with finance ministers. "It might be a rather protracted process, so it's not clear if the directive can be approved before the parliamentary elections in June," he says.
To do so, the directive will need to clear the hurdle at the parliament's final sitting in May.
However, the new Czech presidency, through Czech transport minister Petr Bendl, has identified it as a priority. The report now moves to the full European Parliament on I March in Strasbourg and will be considered by the Council of Ministers.
Peter Cullum, head of international affairs at the Road Haulage Association, rejects the 'polluter-pays principle. He says: "Logic is being lost for political compromise. In the UK, most of our road charges are paid for in fuel duty. In other countries it's a mixture of fuel duty and infrastructure charges. The focus is on achieving compromise, not achieving any particular logic as far as road users are concerned."
Chris Yarsley, EU affairs manager at the Freight Transport Association, says all transport should be treated equally. He states:"We are for transport paying
its way. There should be no discrimination between modes.
The general delegate of the International Road Transport Union, Michael Nielsen. adds: "The [European Transport Committee] regretfully adopted its report on the proposal to revise the Eurovignette Directive despite the current economic crisis, thus proposing to add further costs for road transport and society."
• See comment on page 3.