Eurovignette

FACT SHEET NO.: Cat-No.1 / Subcat-No.1.2-4

1. Pricing

1.2 Internalisation of external costs

Eurovignette

Problem: To ensure cost transparency regarding road usage and external costs of road freight transport.The Eurovignette Directive sets out the common rules by which Member States can charge heavy goods vehicles for the use of the road network by distance, time and location. The 99/62 and 2006/38 directives recommend the introduction of tolls in all EU countries, requiring hauliers to pay when travelling in the interurban high capacity roads and main roads. The original framework prevented governments from charging trucks for their impact on the environment. It concerned transport by lorries above 12 tonnes on the TEN-T road network. The revision of the "Eurovignette" directive in 2011 introduces the internalisation of external effects. Hence, member states may charge road freight transportation which implements respectively calculates the costs of air and noise pollution and road congestion. Furthermore the rule extends to vehicles above 3,5 tonnes on all TEN-T roads and roads which carry a significant amount of international cargo. To this end, member states may apply an "external cost charge" on lorries, complementing the already existing infrastructure charge designed to recover the costs of construction, operation, maintenance and development of road infrastructure.

Example Germany:
- Modification (increase) of the toll rates per Jan 2011
- Increase in infrastructure investments (especially for arterial roads/highways)
- Incentive for carriers to refit their fleet by more environmentally friendly vehicles (Euro-5 lorries are exempt from air pollution charges until 2014 and Euro-6 until 2018): subsidies of ca 100 million EUR/year by Germany government

By laying down common rules on how EU states may charge heavy goods vehicles for using the road network, the 'Eurovignette' directive aims to:- to ensure national toll systems reflect the 'external costs' of transport, including environmental damage, congestion, and accidents (user pays" and a "polluter pays" principle)- to finance alternative modes of transport (cross-financing) to operate a 'modal shift' of freight away from roads (rail, inland waterways) - reduce pollution from road freight transport and making traffic flow smoother by levying tolls that factor in the cost of air and noise pollution due to traffic and help avoid road congestion.

Increasing costs for road transport may possibly make rail and IWW more attractive. Likely increase of multimodal transport usage / chains

The directive is not likely to influence the location choice for production or consumption

Reduction of trip frequencies e.g. through more efficient organisation of freight transport

The directive can lead to traffic detour and diversion (e.g. avoiding more expensive routes such as Alpine area where a toll mark-up of 25% is allowed)

Reduction of peak travels due to higher charges (maximum variation rate of 175 % during peak periods limited to five hours per day).

Increase in loading factor

Reduction of fuel consumption. The higher transport costs create an incentive to optimize logistics and reduce empty running. This indirectly reduces the fuel consumption. [16]

[1] Eur-lex (2006): Directive 2006/38/EC amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures
[2] OECD Observer (2002): Road pricing: what's the deal?
[3] European Conference of Ministers of Transport - ECMT (2002): Tolls on Interurban Road Infrastructure. An Economic Evaluation. Report of the Round Table on Transport Economics 118
[4] Council of European Municipalities and Regions -CEMR (2004): Eurovignette directive : European Parliament and CEMR speak with one voice
[5] European Automobile Manufacturers Association - ACEA (2008): ACEA position on Eurovignette Revision
[6] European Automobile Manufacturers Association - ACEA (2008): ACEA position on the internalisation of external costs
[7] UK-Department for Transport (1998): White Paper: A New Deal for Transport - Better for Everyone
[8] Germany - Ministry of Transport (2011): Lkw-Maut – Inkrafttreten des neuen Bundesfernstraßenmautgesetzes -BFStrMG. http://www.bmvbs.de/SharedDocs/DE/Artikel/UI/lkw-maut-inkrafttreten-neues-bundesfernstrassenmautgesetz.html
[9] Germany - Ministry of Transport (2007): Aktualisierung der Wegekostenrechnung 31-10-2011für die Bundesfernstraßen in Deutschland
[10] Netherlands - Belastingdienst (2010): Belasting zware motorrijtuigen (bzm).http://download.belastingdienst.nl/belastingdienst/docs/mededeling_bzm_ev0061z12pl.pdf
[11] Joint industry position paper (2009): Eurovignette III - Charging of Heavy Goods Vehicles Proposal
[12] Institute for Transport Economics at the University of Cologne (2008): External Costs in the Transport Sector - A Critical Review of the ECInternalisation Policy.
[13] MORPACE International (2002): Study on UK congestion charges and satellite-based road pricing (news release, October 2002)
[14] Institute for Transport Studies, Leeds University -ITS (1998): UK Surface Transport Costs and Charges
[15] Progtrans (2010): Internalisation of external costs. Direct impact on the economies of the individual EU member states and the consequences on the European road haulage industry.
[16] Eur-lex (2011): DIRECTIVE 2011/76/EU amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures.
[17] Eur-lex (2012): Impact assessment on the internalisation of external costs.
[18] Eur-lex: Summary of the Impact assessment on the internalisation of external costs.
[19] CE Delft (2008): Internalisation Measures and Policies for all external Costs of Transport (IMPACT). Handbook on estimation of external costs in the transport sector.
[20] CEDR (2009): The socio-economic impacts of road-pricing.