ARCHIVED - Spain denies promising the EU to impose road tolls
The Minister of Transport in Spain insists that a ‘payment for use’ system hasn’t been agreed
This week, Spain has begun outlining its plan to introduce charges for road use from 2023 amid a huge amount of backlash from truck drivers and minority political parties. In the midst of controversy, Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, insisted on Wednesday November 10 that the government had in no way made an agreement with EU to impose tolls in order to receive recovery funds.
Having already proposed a payment-for-use system back in 2012 and 2018 which never came to fruition, it now seems inevitable that drivers in Spain will have to pay around one cent per kilometre to use the country’s high-speed highways in the coming years.
Despite this, Ms Sánchez has denied that any firm decision has been made and instead reiterated that the Government’s commitments are purely “related to developing and aligning ourselves within the European Union’s strategy of safe, sustainable and connected mobility.”
Confirming that Spain is aiming to develop a roadmap for the process by the end of the year, the minister added that, for now, the plan is to enter into a transparent dialogue with political parties and the transport sector, which has threatened strikes over the issue, to analyse the best way to pay for the infrastructure in this country.
Unfortunately for Ms Sánchez, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan sent by Spain to Brussels directly contradicts her claims. According to the document, the government explained that it “is necessary to develop a system of payment for use of the high-capacity road network that allows us to cover maintenance costs.”
The Plan goes on to say that the ongoing maintenance of Spain’s 12,000 kilometres of motorways and dual carriageways cannot be covered by the regular budget, and so it was proposed that a pay-as-you-go system be introduced from 2024.
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