Amending the Eurovignette Directive (T&E 03/04)

In July 2003 the European Commission released its proposal for amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles, commonly referred to as the “Eurovignette Directive”. The European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) is disappointed with the proposal as it falls short of already agreed EU objectives and principles.

T&E urges the European Parliament and the Council to substantially improve the current proposal by:

• Allowing Member States to decide upon the use of the revenues;
• Allowing Member States, without restrictions, to apply road tolls or user charges to the whole national road network;
• Allowing Member States to incorporate all external costs in the charging system.