Skip to main content

EU draft on road pricing adopts ‘user pays’ principle

Draft rules have been adopted by European policy makers which would bring the idea of widescale ‘user pays’ road pricing one step closer. European Union member states which currently use time-based road user charges will need to switch to distance-based ones for trucks and buses (over 2.4 tonnes) from 2023, and vans and minibuses from 2027, if the rules are made into law. The idea is that vehicles would then be charged according to their actual road use and the pollution they generate. The ‘user
October 31, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Draft rules have been adopted by European policy makers which would bring the idea of widescale ‘user pays’ road pricing one step closer.  


1816 European Union member states which currently use time-based road user charges will need to switch to distance-based ones for trucks and buses (over 2.4 tonnes) from 2023, and vans and minibuses from 2027, if the rules are made into law.

The idea is that vehicles would then be charged according to their actual road use and the pollution they generate.

The ‘user pays’ principle is widely seen as fairer but it has been considered politically difficult to adopt in some cases. The aim of the new rules is also to help meet transport emission reduction targets.

EU countries would need to set different road charging rates based on CO2 emissions, as part of a move to encourage the wider use of environmentally-friendly vehicles.

The new, draft rules would also allow countries to introduce discounts – for example, for light vehicles which frequently use areas on the edges of urban areas.

French socialist MEP Christine Revault d’Allonnes Bonnefoy called it “an ambitious report to achieve the objective of the White Paper on European Transport to move towards the full application of ‘user pays’ and ‘polluter pays’ principles on the European road transport network”.

It was a “turning point for the European transport policy to better tackle CO2 emissions and air pollution from the road transport sector”, she added.

The European Parliament will now negotiate with the European Council on the final wording.

Related Content

  • May 29, 2018
    EU to implement fairer rules for road charging
    EU countries will need to switch to distance-based road use charges for trucks and buses in 2023 and for cars in 2026. The European Parliament’s Transport Committee has voted on new amendments in a bid to meet emission reduction targets and make charges fairer. Distance-based charging is intended to ensure vehicles are charged according to actual road use and pollution generated. The rule will also apply to goods vans over 2.4 tonnes from 2022. EU countries would need to set different road charging ra
  • June 14, 2018
    Road pricing is inevitable – because the ‘user pays’ principle is fair
    We pay for roads through our taxes: the poor pay proportionately more, and effectively subsidise the rich. It would be fairer to accept the ‘user pays’ principle, says Dr John Walker. Road pricing is already used worldwide to combat congestion and pollution, to compensate for falling revenues from fuel duty (‘gas tax’), to provide an alternative (and fairer) means of charging motorists than the 80-year old fuel tax and to improve the efficiency of and expand transport infrastructure. However, it could and s
  • July 8, 2019
    London needs just one road user charge, says report
    London’s patchwork of road charging schemes should be replaced by a single, distance-based user charge, according to new research. Apart from anything else, it would be much fairer… The UK capital’s multiple road charging schemes require a radical overhaul, according to a new report by the Centre for London thinktank. The suggested solution is to replace existing levies on drivers with a single, distance-based user charge which would more fairly reflect how much, and at what time, people are using London
  • September 4, 2018
    ASECAP examines tolling’s trials, tribulations and triumphs
    If you want to get up to speed on the main issues facing the transport sector and tolling companies, ASECAP Study Days event in Ljubljana was a good place to start. Colin Sowman reports (Photographs: Louis David). Increasing populations, ever-higher technical and safety requirements, and electric and hybrid vehicles will provide both challenges and opportunities for tolling companies. The annual Study Days event organised by ASECAP (the European association for tolling companies) examined all of these aspec