Road charging
How do you put a price on trucks’ impact on society?
Hauliers claim that trucks are overpaying in taxes and charges compared to their impact on the environment and society. But the reality is that road transport is now Europe’s biggest climate problem, writes Samuel Kenny.
![A road toll in Serbia [Photo: Shutterstock]](https://www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/10/road_toll.jpeg)
Fifteen EU countries will be forced to change road toll laws under draft rules
Eight EU countries will be forced to change how they charge passenger cars that use public roads by 2023 and nine countries will need to change their systems for trucks, according to draft European Commission plans.
Transport minister: EU approval of German road toll was ‘irritating’
Austria's transport minister has vowed to take Germany to court over its new road toll law, arguing that it discriminates against drivers from other EU countries. He spoke to EURACTIV in an interview.
Parliament wants new road toll and labour rules for truck drivers
MEPs have approved a list of demands for an upcoming EU overhaul of road toll and labour rules for truck drivers, and included a fresh call for an EU road agency after some political groups lost their bid for the new body earlier this year.
Austria to file legal challenge against German highway toll
Austria said on Friday (31 March) it would file a legal challenge against plans by Germany to introduce a road toll for foreign-registered cars using German highways.
Czech transport minister: EU labour law for truckers must avoid East-West divide
The European Commission is expected to propose changes to employment law for truck drivers and rules on road tolls in May. Czech Transport Minister Dan Ťok suggested a compromise and said he isn't ready to challenge Germany's controversial road toll bill.
Full electro-mobility will be the next giant leap for Europe
We are on the cusp of the age of electro-mobility. Now we need concerted action from policymakers to ensure it really does become a reality, writes Nicolas Erb.
SkyToll CEO: Czech road toll ‘in flagrant violation’ of EU law
The situation with tolling in the Czech Republic is unlawful and could happen again if the European Commission doesn’t intervene, says Matej Okáli.
German parliament gives controversial road toll green light
Germany's Bundestag agreed on Friday (24 March) to introduce a road toll for cars registered abroad with prices linked to environmental criteria.
Norway spearheads Europe’s electric vehicle surge
European electromobility is beginning to take off. The targets set by the Paris climate deal depend on it. The EU’s Nordic neighbour, Norway, is showing the rest of Europe the way forward. EURACTIV’s partner The Guardian reports.
Twin EU road toll proposals target pollution and cross-border trucking
EU transport chief Violeta Bulc is expected to announce an overhaul of how countries charge road tolls this May - a controversial issue that has provoked bitter political fights lately and is likely to spark backlash from member states, the shipping industry and truck drivers.
London to introduce £10 vehicle pollution charge
Older, more polluting cars will have to pay a £10 charge (€12) to drive in central London from 23 October, the city’s mayor has said. Confirming he would press ahead with the fee, known as the T-charge, Sadiq Khan said: “It’s staggering that we live in a city where the air is so toxic …
Pressure mounts on EU to pull the plug on contentious German road toll law
EU transport chief Violeta Bulc has defended the European Commission's move to vouch for a controversial German road toll bill that has spurred blistering critique and threats of a lawsuit from 11 neighbouring countries.
Four trends that could clean up road transport
The move towards autonomous vehicles, driven by the progressive electrification of transport, and backed up by road pricing schemes, all carry the potential of radically cleaning up Europe's transport system, writes Greg Archer.
Bulc says controversial German deal paves way for EU road toll law
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Violeta Bulc, the EU transport commissioner, have ended their prolonged fight over a controversial German road toll—provoking anger from neighbours but paving the way for a European-wide road tolling scheme next year.
Bulc defends plan to overhaul road toll rules
“Let me assure you that we're not after a revolution here,” Violeta Bulc said at a small Brussels conference this week after she outlined her plans to overhaul rules governing transport and shipping on roads.
EU takes Germany to court over planned road toll
The European Commission referred Germany on Thursday (29 September) to the European Court of Justice over a planned road toll that it says discriminates against foreign drivers.
EU’s decarbonisation plans scrutinised by divided transport industry
EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc has to make good on a few promises she made before the summer break.
Pressure mounts on truck makers, as Commission announces emissions regulation
The European Commission promised sweeping changes to its regulation of car and truck pollution in an effort to slash carbon emission levels by 2030.
Car industry wants tax incentives and bigger trucks, but not regulation
The auto industry wants tax incentives for using cleaner fuels and bigger trucks, according to an internal strategy paper on cutting greenhouse gas emissions that was seen by EURACTIV.com.
IKEA, Nestlé and Philips join call for EU limit to truck emissions
A group of nineteen large companies and environmental NGOs are demanding the European Commission introduce binding CO2 limits for trucks.
Auditors slam Commission for inefficient railway funding
A new report from the European Court of Auditors says €28 billion in EU funds didn't do enough to boost the share of freight shipped on railways—instead, that figure dropped despite beefed up investments.
Are trucks taking their toll?
The European Commission should introduce truck tolls based on CO2 emissions as part of its 'Eurovignette' review this year, writes Samuel Kenny.
What is the EU doing about truck CO2 emissions?
Pressure is mounting on manufacturers to lower carbon dioxide emissions from trucks, buses and coaches. The European Commission is planning to introduce the first EU-wide standards to measure CO2 from heavy duty vehicles this summer, as a first step to regulate emissions.
This topic is sponsored by
Road charging has become a hot topic in Europe as individual countries move forward in selecting their national tolling operators.
Today, countries with satellite-based tolling systems have grown in numbers. However, not all countries play by the rules when it comes to awarding contracts to bidding operators.
SkyToll operates an electronic tolling system in Slovakia. In the Czech Republic, foreign bidders like SkyToll have been effectively barred from from the market. The whole bidding process was in flagrant violation of the Czech and European law and ended with the extension of the contract of the current operator, Kapsch, for another three years.
To know more, read the Sponsored Interview “Skytoll CEO: Czech road toll ‘in flagrant violation of EU law”.