§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress made by the European Commission's Committee of Experts on transport costs. [105608]
§ Mr. HillI have been asked to reply.
576WAs envisaged in the Commission's White Paper on fair payment for infrastructure use, a committee of Government experts on charging for the use of transport infrastructure was set up to advise the Commission. The committee has been supported by a group of independent experts. The experts have produced two reports, one on estimating transport costs, and one on options for charging users directly for transport infrastructure operating costs. These reports cover, among other things, methods of calculating and charging for transport infrastructure costs, congestion and scarcity costs, accident costs and environmental costs. The committee has also acted as a forum for the exchange between member states of research and other information on infrastructure charging issues.