From December 1, Germany will introduce the so-called the Eurovignette Directive, according to which road tolls will include an additional fee for CO2 emissions. It will be significantly more expensive.
In the draft “Third Act amending the regulations on road tolls” presented by the German federal government, you can find information that the part of CO2 emissions in road tolls will bring EUR 6.8 billion in 2024 alone. This is slightly less than in 2023 … all road tolls in our western neighbours. Of course, this is just a project, but it gives a picture of what the rates may look like in the near future. It will probably be about twice as expensive as before.
The amount of fees will depend on the level of CO2 emissions. Does this mean that companies with the latest Euro VI cars have nothing to fear? Unfortunately, it turns out to be quite the opposite. According to the rates included in the draft, the toll for a 40-ton Euro VI class set will be 34.8 eurocents per kilometre. If we realise that so far we have paid 19 cents for the same vehicle, it will be clear that the prices for transport through Germany will go up significantly in the near future.
WILL THE EXPENSIVE TOLL ONLY APPLY TO GERMANY?
We mentioned at the beginning that the increase in toll rates is the result of the implementation of Directive 2022/362 amending Directives 1999/62/EC, 1999/37/EC and (EU) 2019/520 as regards charging for the use of certain types of infrastructure by vehicles, i.e. the so-called the Eurovignette Directive. The same provisions must also be implemented by the other Member States by March 25, 2024.
It can therefore be expected with a high probability that in the near future the German government will be followed by its counterparts from other European countries and road tolls will increase throughout the community. Should we be concerned that it will be such a drastic increase everywhere? Unfortunately, we are not optimistic about this and will be very surprised if it turns out otherwise. The most expensive A2 motorway in Poland on the section between Nowy Tomyśl and Konin now costs PLN 0.67 per kilometre. So you can be afraid that exceeding PLN 1 is unfortunately only a matter of time.
HIGHER COSTS = HIGHER PRICES
Who will pay for the higher toll? All consumers. The increase in road tolls will result in higher rates for transport, and thus – in an increase in the prices of transported products. Can we reduce carbon dioxide emissions in this way? Unfortunately, there is no indication of that. Road transport, despite its undeniable burden on nature, is currently irreplaceable in Europe (as well as around the world).
We are of the opinion that the efforts of the government should rather focus on ensuring the appropriate infrastructure for the use of greener transport technologies in the future. As part of the LogisTech Green Investment Project, we are working on launching test routes for electric trucks between logistics hubs in the following regions by 2025: Warsaw – Berlin (600 km), Stuttgart-Berlin (650 km), Stuttgart – Zurich (250 km) and Stuttgart – Innsbruck ( 350 km).
The biggest barrier currently is not the lack of appropriate technical capabilities, but the infrastructure. So let’s hope that apart from the stick in the form of increased road tolls, there will also be a carrot waiting for transport companies – infrastructure that allows more and more extensive use of ecological technologies in transport.
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