Case study analysis of the burden of taxation and charges on transport

The European Commission (DG MOVE) commissioned an international consortium led by CE Delft to investigate the taxes, charges and subsidies on/for transport on twenty European corridors (including Paris–Madrid, Amsterdam–Frankfurt and Budapest–Milan) to compare the combined fiscal burden on the various transport modes. This study thus provides important input for the discussion on the extent to which the external and infrastructure costs of transport in Europe are internalized by means of taxes and charges. As the external and infrastructure costs were not themselves researched, however, this study cannot be used to pronounce on the current degree of internalization.

The study shows that the fiscal burden on transport varies widely across the corridors, a reflection mainly of the large differences in taxes and charges (for certain transport modes) among European member states. A comparison of the fiscal burden of the various modes shows that for both passenger and freight transport the modes with the highest external costs (road and air) also have the highest fiscal burden.