Following the letters of formal notice sent in November 2021, on 19 May 2022 the Commission sent reasoned opinions to Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ireland, Poland and Portugal for not notifying the Commission of national measures to transpose Directive 2019/520 on the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS), whose deadline elapsed on 19 October 2021.

The EETS Directive finds its rationale in the fact that the lack of interoperability is a significant problem in electronic road toll systems where the fee due is linked to the distance covered by the vehicle or to the vehicle passing a specific point. The Directive, therefore, lays down the conditions necessary to ensure, on the one hand, the interoperability of electronic road toll systems on the entire Union road network, urban and interurban motorways, major and minor roads, and various structures, such as tunnels or bridges, and ferries and to facilitate, on the other hand, the cross-border exchange of vehicle registration data regarding the vehicles and the owners or holders of vehicles for which there was a failure to pay road fees of any kind in the Union. More particularly, the EETS is a tolling system for which European road-users can pay with one subscription contract, one service provider and one on-board unit that covers all Member States.

Concerned Member States will now have two months to reply. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the matter to the Court of Justice.

Marco Stillo