HC Deb 26 July 1993 vol 229 cc580-1W
26. Mr. Heald

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the plans of other European countries to impose charges for the use of their motorway networks.

Mr. Key

The Green Paper "Paying for Better Motorways" (Cm 2200) describes the charging systems for motorways already in use in a number of countries in Europe and elsewhere.

Since then, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have announced their intention to develop a joint motorway permit system for heavy goods vehicles. Germany intends to begin field trials of the technology for electronic motorway charging in 1994. Several other countries are investigating the possibility of electronic charging.