Should the haulage industry be made to pay not only for infrastructure costs, but noise and air pollution as well? MEPs think yes, but allow for exceptions.

On the road to sustainable transport

1 vehicle in 10 travelling on our roads  is a heavy goods vehicle.

They already pay a tax  related to the construction

or maintenance of the road network,  the Eurovignette.

The EU now wants to apply  the polluter-pays principle.

Lorry drivers will, perhaps, have to pay  a tax on air and noise pollution.

The polluter-pays principle  seems a priori perfectly fair.

Unfortunately it excludes  a number of polluters.

It should include not only rail transport  but also air transport

and, of course, everyone else  whose travels contribute

to the emission of CO2,  noise and particulate matter.

While this new law  has not yet been fully outlined,

the EP and the Member States  are already at odds

over the use of the euros  that this tax could yield.

The MEPs want to reinvest this money  into a sustainable transport policy,

It should go to the transport system  as a whole, not only roads

but also alternatives  such as railways or inland waterways.

All lorries will not be treated the same.

The oldest ones which pollute the most  will pay more than the newest ones.

The tax would also be reduced  for lorries travelling outside peak hours.

These days, when the transport sector  has to deal with very high oil prices,

we have to be cautious  in adding more and more costs.

The MEPs will now have to  convince the Member States.