Videoconference on Tuesday: EU transport ministers discuss about the Eurovignette
On Tuesday, 8 December, EU transport ministers will meet for a videoconference under the auspices of the German Presidency of the EU Council. Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer will chair the meeting.
One focus of the meeting will be a discussion on the proposed revision of EU road user charges. The so-called Eurovignette should ensure that the charges collected are adjusted to take into account the impact of the vehicles on the environment.
Since previous negotiations had not led to an agreement, the German Council Presidency took up the subject again in November. The compromise text that the German Presidency proposes gives EU member states, among other things, the option of exempting trucks with a gross vehicle weight between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes from the obligation to pay tolls under certain conditions. An exception could apply, for example, to tradespeople for the transport of materials, tools or machines. The compromise also envisages that two or more member states be given the option of levying a surcharge of between 25 percent and 50 percent of the infrastructure charges on the same cross-border transport corridor.
The second key topic of the meeting concerns the reform of regulations governing a uniform European airspace. The aim is to make European air traffic management more efficient, flexible and sustainable. A new edition of the Single European Sky (SES) initiative is considered an indispensable building block for reducing CO2 emissions and thus a basic requirement for implementing the goals of the Commission's European Green Deal. Especially against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear how important it is for air traffic planning to be flexible in order to be able to react more quickly to unpredictable traffic fluctuations.
In the further course of the conference, the German Council Presidency will inform ministers about the new mobility approach, which is intended to create the framework for a sustainable and crisis-proof transport policy. In this context, the Presidency will also provide information on the latest rail transport plans. The Luxembourg delegation will also give a presentation on the importance of expanding the European rail network.
Other topics include the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on passenger rights and the latest developments in connected and autonomous driving.
Finally, the Portuguese delegation will present its work program in the field of transport for Portugal's upcoming presidency, which starts on 1 January, 2021.
Info
More information about the videoconference of EU transport ministers can be found on the website of the Council of the EU. A livestream of the videoconference from 10.00 and the livestream of the press conference at 18.00 can be followed here.
On this topic
Looking back, looking ahead: The EU’s common transport policyInternal link