On the 17th of February, the Common Office published its press release on the adoption of the Eurovignette. The Common Office, uniting hauliers from the Nordic countries, Germany and France, consists of the Nordic Logistics Association (NLA), the Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics and Disposal, Germany (BGL) and the French Road Haulage Association (FNTR).
Being fully committed to contributing within our possibilities to decarbonise transport in terms of replacing fossil source fuels, the Common Office welcomes the adoption of the reform of the Eurovignette directive. The new text allows for a more harmonised framework for on-road charging of heavy-duty vehicles throughout the European Union.
The key new element of the reform is the integration of a toll variation according to the CO2 emissions of the vehicles and a mark-up for CO2 emissions (external cost) whereby the time-based road charging will be replaced by distance-based tolls.
The Common office strongly warns against double or even triple taxation of the same CO2 emissions. Indeed, the new Eurovignette deal needs to be looked at in conjunction with the Fit for 55 Package, which puts also on the table the potential integration of CO2 in the Energy taxation directive as well as in the EU emission trading system (ETS). We request a stop of any national measure to tax CO2 emissions of the road haulage sector in addition to the Eurovignette directive.
The revised road charging rules, as adopted today by the European Parliament in Strasbourg, contains a clause to prevent any double taxation of CO2 emissions in road haulage. The Common Office welcomes this and will remain extremely vigilant with the implementation of that clause.
Moreover, the Common Office continues to emphasise our request to ensure a fair level playing field for all modes of transport. All modes have to be charged according to the same methodology including CO2 standards and other external costs. A one-side burden should not be placed on road transport.
Finally, as the new directive pushes, even more, the road haulage industry to invest in low or zero-emission lorries, a stronger earmarking mechanism for revenues generated by tolls would have been essential. The Common Office will be in close contact with their national authorities concerning that the earmarking of revenue generated by tolls encourages the uptake of various climate neutral vehicles.
The whole press release of the Common Office can be downloaded from the link below.
