Brussels gives Spain an ultimatum: Implement dual carriageway tolls in 2025 or face huge fines
Spain has promised to implement a pay-as-you-go or toll system on busy secondary roads as part of its EU recovery plan
Mindful of the heavy financial burden already facing the people of Spain as a result of the cost of living crisis, for the past couple of years the government has put off introducing charges for using some of the country’s major secondary roads, which include dual carriageways. However, this week, the European Commission has said in no uncertain terms that it expects Spain to implement these tolls as soon as possible.
On Monday December 16, Brussels reminded Spain that it has already pushed the deadline out several times, and the most recent cut-off date of March 25, 2024 has come and gone without any progress being made.
The Commission is essentially pushing Spain to implement what’s known as the ‘Eurovignette Directive’, which establishes EU-wide rules on distance-based fees (tolls) and time-based driver charges (vignettes) on all roads. This, Brussels insists, will allow “Member States to recover infrastructure costs (construction, operation, maintenance) through tolls and vignettes.
The costs would apply to all passenger cars, buses, coaches and small heavy-duty vehicles.
This won’t come as welcome news to drivers, who are already facing much steeper motorway tolls from the beginning of 2025.
The revised Directive also requires Member States to include the environmental costs of air pollution in their pricing systems “in order to set charges based on a vehicle’s CO2 emissions,” with the aim of reducing vehicular pollution and encouraging cleaner heavy-duty vehicles.
Spain isn’t alone in its failure to meet the March 2024 deadline, and the EC has also issued ultimatums to Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Portugal. They have all been given two months to respond and adopt the necessary measures.
“Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union,” the statement on Monday read, implying that nations who fail to comply could face fines.
Spain has officially agreed to introduce the road charges as part of the recovery plan, so the government is unlikely to be able to duck out of it for much longer. Given that Spain is already under the EU spotlight for several other infringements, including outdated regulations on professional qualifications and a lack of transparency in how it awards contracts for beach bars, it’s a safe bet that motorists will be paying dual carriageway tolls before too long.
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