Road transport: the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures, Eurovignette

In adopting the report by Mr Georg JARZEMBOWSKI (PPE, D), the European Parliament amended the proposal for a Council Directive on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures. In one of its amendments, Parliament called on the Commission to submit within twelve months a proposal concerning the external costs of the individual modes of transport so that they could be charged simultaneously to all modes of transport. Parliament deleted the 'sensitive routes'. It called for Member States to have the option of not imposing user charges for urban motorways. It also proposed that user charges should be reduced by 50% for vehicles registered in peripheral regions. In the special case of the Brenner motorway, the Council was permitted, under the procedure laid down in the EC Treaty, to authorize the Member State concerned to increase toll charges by a cost component to help achieve and maintain a sustainable distribution of traffic in the Alpine region. The maximum amounts of annual user charges (in ECU per year) for the various vehicles were amended to read as follows: - Vehicle category with 2, 3 or 6 axles: non-Euro vehicles: ECU 2000; Euro I: ECU 1500; Euro II or better: ECU 1000. - Vehicle category with 4 or 5 axles: non-Euro vehicles: ECU 2500; Euro I: ECU 2000; Euro II or better: ECU 1500. �