EU proposing toll charges based on CO2 emissions

The European Commission is aiming to cut road transport’s CO2 emissions and is proposing to introduce toll charges based on a vehicle’s emissions, according to Reuters. The proposal, which is expected to be published at the end of May, will also include buses and coaches as well as a requirement for motorists to pay according to the distance travelled. The proposal will keep the average level of tolls collected roughly constant, meaning more polluting vehicles will pay more while cleaner ones will pay less.
April 25, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The 1690 European Commission is aiming to cut road transport’s CO2 emissions and is proposing to introduce toll charges based on a vehicle’s emissions, according to Reuters.


The proposal, which is expected to be published at the end of May, will also include buses and coaches as well as a requirement for motorists to pay according to the distance travelled.

The proposal will keep the average level of tolls collected roughly constant, meaning more polluting vehicles will pay more while cleaner ones will pay less.

The EU currently has a legal framework governing toll charges for trucks, but road tolls for private vehicles are left to national governments.

The proposal will not force countries to introduce road charging schemes for cars or trucks, but will lay down rules any such scheme would have to respect were it to be introduced.

The proposals will need the approval of the European Parliament and of member states before they can be implemented.

Charging, Tolling & RUC

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Kapsch’s scalable tolling back office accepts mixed feeds
    September 15, 2014
    Arno Klamminger and Wolfgang Fleischer from Kapsch’s ETC Business Unit outline a new back office solution which addresses the ongoing changes in the road user charging sector. The rapidly increasing scale of some Road User Charging (RUC) schemes, both current and proposed, presents systems developers and manufacturers with significant opportunities in terms of product sales. However, it also presents them with significant challenges - and size is but one part – as at regional, national and international lev
    Read More
  • Tolling Matters: Getting the balance right
    January 18, 2023
    The concept of road usage charging (RUC) is slowly coming to the fore. But it isn’t just a question of good fiscal sense – it’s about promoting equity and ensuring sustainability too, says Scott Jacobs of Emovis
    Read More
  • Is Europe's Galileo project value for money?
    February 2, 2012
    Philippe Hamet discusses the progress of the European Union's Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System Project
    Read More
  • ITS (UK): Shift to emissions free vehicles will make road network funding unsustainable
    November 30, 2017
    Shortfalls in fuel tax caused by moving to emissions-free vehicles will make current ways of funding road networks unsustainable, according to a joint forum between ITS (UK) Road User Charging Interest Group and ITS Ireland hosted by Aecom, Dublin. The group consisted of policy makers, toll operators, payment providers and highway users from seven European countries.
    Read More

Highlighted Content