BRUSSELS: Members of the European Parliament have voted to implement a new system of road tolls from 2023 that provides incentives to truck operators of zero-emission vehicles.

To reduce GHG transport emissions throughout the EU, in 2017 the European Commission proposed to review its Eurovignette Directive that allows Member States to levy national infrastructure charges based on a common set of rules.

The updated Directive means countries must give discounts on distance-based road tolls of at least 50 percent to operators of zero-emission trucks, whether battery-electric or hydrogen powered, opt to levy extra CO2-based charges on fossil fuel lorries instead - or implement both measures.

Member states can also opt to levy extra CO2-based charges on fossil fuel trucks, vans and minibuses from 2026.

Campaigning NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) says making these charges mandatory is a big step towards recovering the full costs of trucking’s impact on human health and the environment.

“This is a watershed for green trucking,” commented T&E freight policy manager James Nix. “Fossil-fuel trucks will finally have to pay more if they emit more, and hauliers who switch to emissions-free vehicles will slash their costs. But the clock is ticking on national governments to have the cleaner, fairer system in place on time. Europe cannot wait any longer to tackle this major source of emissions.”

T&E says trucks are responsible for 23 percent of the EU’s climate emissions from road transport and, citing data from Copenhagen, Paris and London, account for more than 20 percent of road vehicles’ emissions of poisonous NOx.