The brand new tax comes at a price of 15 cents per kilometre for heavy items lorry drivers.
A procession of slow-moving vehicles gridlocked Alsace’s A35 motorway in protest towards a proposed new heavy items automobiles tax.
The brand new tax, which might be launched from 2027, will goal automobiles weighing greater than 3.5 tonnes and goals to scale back transit site visitors on the area’s important motorway.
The federal government says the HGV tax is the one answer to fight the expansion on this site visitors, which is exacerbated by the numerous European transit drivers who use the path to bypass the excessive ecotaxes in place on Germany’s motorways.
“We have now no different answer at the moment to curb transit. The lion’s share of the tax shall be paid by transit site visitors, since over 50% of all site visitors is transit,” says Frédéric Bierry, Chairman of the Alsace European Neighborhood. He additionally claims that the brand new tax would usher in round €64million per yr.
Nonetheless, lots of these working within the transit business say the addition of this tax would threaten the survival of some companies.
“Our companies have very low margins, in order quickly as a [new] tax is introducer or proposed, we’re instantly affected as a result of we now have no room for manoeuvre,” explains highway haulier, Frédéric Reinheimer.
Séverine Richart, from Transports Sateg – FNTR Alsace, provides that “France’s HGV fleet is already much less aggressive than that of different nations. Including one more tax will make us even much less aggressive.”
Issues have additionally been raised by the Collective for the Competitiveness of the Alsatian Economic system, which has requested that Bierry postpone the choice by not less than six-months.
Nonetheless, in keeping with Brigitte Kempf, co-president of the Alsace part of the Nationwide Federation of Street Transporters, Frédéric Bierry is thus far refusing to provide in to those requests.
Native councillors are set to vote on the proposal on twenty first October.