Recovering unpaid road tolls will become easier across Europe – Council approves provisional deal

It will soon become easier for member states to trace people who fail to pay road fees, even when their vehicles are registered in another EU country. A new information-sharing system allowing this is included in the updated electronic road toll rules that member states’ ambassadors approved today in the Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee. A provisional deal was reached by the presidency and the European Parliament on 20 November.

This reform puts all road users on an equal footing when it comes to paying road fees. It also makes electronic tolling systems more interoperable and therefore more cost-efficient and user-friendly.

Norbert Hofer, Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria, President of the Council

Under the reform, national authorities will have access to other member states’ national vehicle registration data in order to identify owners of vehicles for which road fees have not been paid. The information exchange relates to fees to be paid electronically or manually for using road infrastructure. The possible administrative or legal consequences will depend on the national law of the country where the fee was left unpaid.

The new rules will also remove administrative barriers, such as local technical specifications, and give electronic tolling providers easier access to the toll collection market.

The new measures will become applicable 30 months after the entry into force of the directive.

This is the first proposal in the three mobility packages to be agreed on between the Council and the Parliament.

Next steps

Once the agreed text has undergone legal and linguistic finalisation it must be formally adopted, first by the Parliament and then by the Council. Following adoption, the directive will be published in the EU’s Official Journal.

The text of the draft directive will soon be available on this webpage.

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