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Eurovignette

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


General Information

Title

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

Category

1. Pricing

Subcategory

1.2 Internalisation of external costs

Transport policy measure (TPM)

Eurovignette

Description of TPM

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.

Implementation examples

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

Objectives of TPM

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.

Choice of transport mode / Multimodality

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

Origin and/or destination of trip

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

Trip frequency

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

Choice of route

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)

Timing (day, hour)

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

Occupancy rate / Loading factor

Increase in loading factor

Energy efficiency / Energy usage

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]

Main source

[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.

Traffic Impacts

Passengers 

         

Transport operators 

           

Unassigned 

         

Travel or transport time

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Risk of congestion

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Vehicle mileage

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Service and comfort

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Overall impacts on social groups

Implementation phase

Operation phase

Impact as soon as directive comes into effect

Summary / comments concerning the main impacts

- Decrease of HGV mileage, travel and transport time
- Decrease of congestion by optimising logistics behaviour and empty returns [16].
- Improvement of road service/comfort and freight transport on other modes: the funds raised by the Eurovignette are used to finance the maintenance of the road infrastructure but also to cross-finance rail and IWW.

Quantification of impacts


Economic Impacts

Passengers 

         

Transport operators 

           

Unassigned 

         

Transport costs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Private income / commercial turn over

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Revenues in the transport sector

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sectoral competitiveness

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Spatial competitiveness

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Housing expenditures

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Insurance costs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Health service costs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Public authorities & adm. burdens on businesses

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Public income (e.g.: taxes, charges)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Third countries and international relations

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Overall impacts on social groups

Implementation phase

High costs for implementation: A projection for the EU 27 results in equipment costs of EUR 33 bn.

Operation phase

High operation costs: Annual operating costs of EUR 22 bn are estimated. London Congestion Charging has also shown that this is an expensive solution. Around 60% of the carging revenues are spent on operating and administration. High costs arise for the public for the charging technology alone; there is no material improvement of transport infrastructure.

Summary / comments concerning the main impacts

- The increase in transport costs leads to a negative evolution of exports and consumption (households have to face increased costs of transport) unless the revenues from road charges are used for direct tax reductions [17].
- Negative contribution to spatial competitiveness on a national level: the more central countries have a geographical location advantage as the net distributional effect of the charges on the national income is higher in the peripheral countries. [15, p. 33]

Quantification of impacts

See [15] for a quantification of the impact on each EU Member State.

Social Impacts
Environmental Impacts

Passengers 

         

Transport operators 

           

Unassigned 

         

Air pollutants

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Noise emissions

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Visual quality of the landscape

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Land use

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Climate

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Renewable or non-renewable resources

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Overall impacts on social groups

Implementation phase

Operation phase

Summary / comments concerning the main impacts

- Reduction of noise levels and air pollution (especially NOx (the main source), VOC and PM2.5) from freight transport. Society as a whole benefits from lower noise levels and pollutant emissions; the charge further helps to combate climate change. Optimal charging would lead to a reduction of air pollution and CO2 by 54% in United Kingdom, 50% in France and 42% in Finland. [17] The external-cost charging contributes to the reduction of external costs (air pollution, crop losses and other loss of production). [16]
- Within the modes there is a likely shift from road to rail (also in terms of pollution); the additional negative environmental effects due to more IWW transport are negligible.

Quantification of impacts


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