European Commission takes Portugal to the Court of Justice for infringing EU legislation on road charging

Date: 9/12/2009

Source: Europa

The European Commission has a lodged a case to the Court of Justice over Portugal’s failure to implement Directive 2006/38/EC 1 (the "Eurovignette" Directive).

The Directive sets common rules on distance-related tolls and time-based user charges for goods vehicles (above 3.5 tonnes) for the use of certain road infrastructure. The directive is aimed at ensuring the proper functioning of the internal market in commercial road transport and fair competition by applying principles of fair and efficient pricing for the use of transport infrastructure.

Member States were obliged to bring into force all necessary measures in order to comply with the Directive by 10 June 2008. Portugal has not yet notified the Commission that the Directive has been implemented into the national law.

Keywords: European Commission, Freight, Payment, Policy