The European Commission remarked this Thursday that Spain proposed, and Brussels approved, a Recovery Plan that contemplates the implementation of tolls on the main motorways and dual carriageways. "We understand that the Spanish plan refers to a payment mechanism for the use of roads that will begin in 2024 in line with the principle that the polluter pays," said the economic spokesperson for the Community Executive, Veerle Nuyts. Brussels thus positioned itself in the controversy that arose in the electoral face-off between Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, specifying that the terms of the agreement are still in force today.
The Recovery Plan, added the Commission spokeswoman, includes "the commitment to approve a law on sustainable mobility and transport financing by December 2023." The Government began the procedures to illuminate this norm and came to present the bill in Congress without contemplating, yes, any reference to tolls. The norm declined due to the dissolution of the Cortes Generales due to the early calling of elections and, therefore, the next Government should retake the law to comply with the agreement with Brussels.
The European Commission stressed that it will proceed to evaluate the commitment to implement pay-per-use on Spanish roads as of next year, once the Government that leaves the polls next Sunday requests the corresponding payment of European funds. "We will evaluate this measure when we reach the fifth request for payment from Spain, so it is not a discussion for today," added Nuyts. In this fifth disbursement, the request for 8,000 million euros linked to 13 milestones is planned.
The controversy over tolls worsened last week after the Director General of Traffic, Pere Navarro, assured that the toll gates on the highways should be in operation as of 2024. The Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, "categorically" denied that they were going to demand to pay for driving and Navarro had to apologize. Sánchez, this Thursday, insisted on discarding the measure.
The Government explains that, at this time, the Department of Economic Affairs of the Presidency and the Ministry of Economy are negotiating with the European Commission to replace the payment for using the roads with another system with which to cover their conservation and, in turn, comply with the environmental commitment. They also argue that the economic situation has changed. These conversations, they add, are within the negotiations of the addendum to the Recovery Plan.
What would happen if Spain, or any community country, does not approve the reforms agreed in the different recovery plans in a timely manner? Everything is appraised. “In the disbursement request there would be a missed milestone and, therefore, a partial payment procedure could be initiated; that is to say, the resources that the country would receive would be reduced”, explain government sources.
This procedure has already started with Italy. The European Commission has been blocking a payment to the transalpine country for months because it has not met objectives that should have been implemented at the end of last year.
During Isabel Pardo de Vera's time at the Secretary of State for Transport, the ministry made progress in studies to implement pay-per-use on roads, outlining several possible models to be discussed with transport professionals and parliamentary groups.
