Following a vote in the European Parliament which revises the current Eurovignette Directive, heavy lorries will be charged for costs of air and noise pollution.

MEPs have voted to support changes to the Eurovignette Directive, enabling member states to tackle congestion problems by varying charges for heavy lorries at different times of the day. Under the proposals, member states would also be able to charge heavy lorries for costs associated with air and noise pollution.

Member states look set to be able to charge heavy lorries, not only for the costs of infrastructure which is currently the case, but also to levy an additional charge to cover the costs of air and noise pollution, following a vote in the European Parliament on 7 June, 2011.  The new rules, which revise the current Eurovignette Directive, will also give member states better tools to manage problems of congestion, with a new flexibility to vary the charge for heavy lorries (by up to 175%) at different times of the day. Importantly the new rules provide strong incentives to member states for ‘earmarking’ revenues, i.e. to set aside new charging revenues for investment in sustainable transport infrastructure (TEN-T) projects.

Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Transport, said: "These new EU rules will send the right price signals to operators so they will invest more in efficient logistics, less polluting vehicles and more sustainable transport at large. They also give member states new tools to fight congestion with possibilities to vary charges at different times of the day to get heavy lorries off the roads at peak periods. This is a very important step in the right direction towards creating a fair financial environment, where prices across different transport modes reflect the real costs to society and the taxpayer."

Changes to the Eurovignette Directive cover charging for congestion as well as noise and air pollution.