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October 07, 2008
Internalise external costs of all transport modes
Brussels – The International Road Transport Union (IRU) calls on the Council of Transport Ministers, meeting on 9 October to discuss the Greening of Transport package, to ensure that the Commission’s initiative on internalising external costs is applied to all transport modes and users at the same time, if they want to meet the EU’s environmental objectives.
Bertil Dahlin, President of the IRU Goods Transport Liaison Committee with the EU stated, “Road freight transport already pays a wide variety of taxes and duties, which cover its external costs. It is unacceptable that the European Commission singled out our sector to further increase the tax burden without proposing parallel measures for the other transport modes and users. This approach, beyond hurting the European economy and competitiveness, as any penalty on road transport is an even greater penalty on the economy, will simply not be effective. We count on the Council to set things right.”
The IRU calls upon the Council to insist that the European Commission urgently tables concrete legal proposals for the internalisation of external costs in other transport modes, in order to guarantee a level playing field for all modes of transport, and an effective reduction of all external costs.
Bertil Dahlin continued, “Other important open issues remain to reach a comprehensive and appropriate internalisation strategy, such as the earmarking of revenues, but the effective greening of transport can only be achieved if applied to all modes at the same time and using sound cost-benefit analyses.”
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