CLECAT position paper on Eurovignette toll exemption for Zero-Emission Vehicles
In the context of the upcoming EU Automotive Industrial Action Plan, CLECAT, the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services takes the opportunity to provide proposals to incentivise the shift to zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles. The revised Directive 1999/62/EC – the so-called Eurovignette Directive – provides an effective tool to reduce the operational costs of zero-emission vehicles, by allowing Member States to exempt them from road charges, until the end of 2025. However, considering the low uptake of zero-emission HDVs in the European road transport sector due to operational and financial constraints, CLECAT considers that this possibility should be extended.
This position paper advocates for extending this exemption in line with the CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles, until 31 December 2030, to ensure a sustainable and economically viable transition to zero-emission freight transport across the European Union.