TRUCK MARKET * Europe - Deal reached to charge trucks

Brussels,Belgium -Fleet Owner, by Brian Straight -May 27, 2011: -- Representatives of the European Union’s (EU) Parliament and Council have reached agreement on a plan that will allow member states to charge trucks additional levies for “external costs” and vary tariffs as a way to ease congestion during peak hours. The key to the deal, lawmakers said, is the earmarking of revenues from the fees for transportation infrastructure projects... Under the deal, which still must be ratified by the full Parliament and Council, member states will be able to charge “extra mark-ups” for older trucks (Euro class 0-3), particularly in mountainous regions, and all of that revenue collected will have to be spent on financing so-called Ten-T infrastructure projects on the same TEN corridor... The agreement also calls for transparency in the program, mandating that all member states report back to the commission on a regular basis the types of toll income it is collecting, the variations applied, and how the money has been invested...