EC prepares for Eurovignette proposal

The European Commission is preparing to launch a public consultation on a formula for road charging within the European Union (EU), taking account of transport impact costs.

The complex factors involved in setting tolls were ducked when the 2006 road charging Eurovignette Directive was passed, but the European Parliament told the EC to come up with a formula by June 2008. The EC duly set up a team led by Dutch consultancy CE Delft to assess various calculation methods. These conclusions will be presented to the transport industry next month (October) for comments.

At a workshop staged by Delft earlier this year it was revealed that a consensus had been reached on the measurement of air quality and climate change, but "for noise it is more complicated." Other potential costs that might be taken into account include the treatment of road traffic victims.