IRISH CONSUMERS could soon pay more for imported goods than other Europeans because of a draft law that would impose additional road toll charges on Irish hauliers.
Under a revision of the “Eurovignette directive”, new charges on heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) would be based in part on air and noise pollution and the congestion they cause on European highways.
Toll charges would also be adapted under the law to reflect the environmental standard of the vehicle in an effort to tackle climate change.
Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins, who sits on the European Parliament’s transport committee, warned yesterday that the draft law would disproportionately hurt Irish road hauliers because of the country’s peripheral position.
The draft directive could increase the cost of imported goods for Irish consumers, while also increasing the cost of Irish exports compared to EU competitors.
“The adoption of this directive will dramatically increase the operating costs for Irish hauliers and therefore the products they transport to and from Ireland,” said Mr Higgins, who, along with MEPs from other peripheral states such as Portugal and Spain, is lobbying against the draft directive currently being debated by the parliament.
However, the critics of the draft law were defeated in a key vote at the parliament’s transport committee yesterday, which backed the extra charges by 31 votes to 16.
Mr Higgins said the timing of the proposed amendments could not be worse.
“At a time when companies are cutting back costs, some may well be unable to absorb the increased cost of transporting their goods to the market,” said Mr Higgins, who pledged to work with other MEPs to try to amend the draft law when all MEPs vote on it in March.
The Green Party welcomed the vote in the committee. “Transport represents a very significant 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. We cannot fight climate change without making a massive shift from road to rail,” said German Green MEP Michael Cramer, who sits on the transport committee.