The European Commission is to propose making automobiles, trucks, buses and vans pay higher road toll charges the more CO2 they release as it seeks to cut road transport’s carbon footprint, 2 EU officials stated.
The proposal, which has not yet been settled, will for the first time set some EU-wide concepts for road tolls for vehicles, including one that drivers need to pay according to the distance traveled, and consists buses and coaches, the people stated.
The proposal will keep the typical level of tolls collected roughly continuous, indicating more polluting cars will pay more while cleaner ones will pay less, one of the sources informed.
Heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) represent a small portion of automobiles on the road but are accountable for a 3rd of road transportation’s CO2 emissions in the EU.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) – which includes Volvo, CNH Industrial’s IVECO and Daimler – stated it supported differentiating road charging according to CO2 emissions as long as it promoted low emissions in real conditions of use and offered fair rivalry between kinds of automobiles.
“Any road charges that do not consider the real emissions or the complete automobile combination (including tires, weight and aerodynamics) would sub-optimize the fleet,” ACEA stated.
Separating the amount trucks have to pay according to their CO2 emissions must make road hauliers more efficient as it increases the expense of owning per kilometer and could motivate the renewal of fleets.
Presently, the EU has a legal framework governing charging for trucks, however road tolls for private automobiles are delegated national governments.
The proposal will not require nations to introduce road charging plans for cars or trucks, but will Set rules any such plan would have to respect were it to be introduced, the sources stated.
Road tolls frequently prove sensitive political issues and the EU’s relocate to set rules on car charging and phase out time-based charging systems is most likely to face opposition from both vehicle drivers and governments.
Germany, which for several years was involved in a tussle with the EU over its proposed road toll which Brussels stated discriminated against foreign motorists, just recently introduced modifications to assuage the EU’s issues.
