Press Release: Road charging – discounts on motorway tolls: Commission refers Spain to Court of Justice

The European Commission has decided to take legal action against Spain for failure to respect European legislation on road charging when applying excessively high discounts on motorway tolls. Spain has introduced discounts of up to 50% for those heavy goods vehicles that frequently use its motorways. These excessive discounts for road usage favour mainly domestic hauliers, violate the principle of non-discrimination and distort competition. According to the referral decision, Spain has an additional three months to comply with the European rules. If there are no satisfactory measures taken within this deadline, the Commission will refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.