Communication from the Commission on the application of national road infrastructure charges levied on light private vehicles

The general objective of the European Union's Transport Policy presented in the White Paper on Transport is "to help establish a system that underpins European economic progress, enhances competitiveness and offers high-quality mobility services while using resources more efficiently". In practice, users of the transport system have, inter alia, to make better use of the infrastructure and reduce its negative impact on the environment. Correct pricing, applying the "user pays" and "polluter pays" principle, is one of the ways of making users of the transport network aware of the impact of their mobility choices.

While there are EU secondary rules concerning road charges levied on heavy goods vehicles with total permissible mass of more than 3.5 tonnes, the only rules concerning the charging of light private vehicles, light commercial vehicles with total permissible mass of no more than 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches stem directly from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Member States usually apply the same charging scheme with the same rates to light commercial vehicles used in transport for hire or reward, or for own account as for light private vehicles, since there is no significant difference between these types of vehicles as regards average infrastructure usage patterns and administrative costs of operating the scheme.

Although the present Communication can be applied to light commercial vehicles, it does not pretend to cover all the possible issues related to the levy of road charges on commercial transport. The present Communication is not related to buses and coaches either. These vehicles are normally covered by the same charging schemes as for heavy goods vehicles.

The present Communication, as a part of the broader strategy on road charging outlined in the White Paper, aims to clarify the Commission's understanding of how the general principles of non-discrimination and proportionality of the Treaty are to be applied to a vignette system for light private vehicles. It also provides guidance on the application of such vignette system.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)199: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:199:FIN

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