Tolls illegal!!!!!

[Bruce Wallis]

Must be true....I read it in the Resident!!

Apparently some camra in the Alentejo, and the Spaniards, have complained to the EU, that the imposition of tolls on the A22 is illegal, and the complaint has been upheld by Brussels.

So if the Portuguese dont rescind the tolls, they will be taken to the EU Commission and fined.....or whatever penalty the EU can impose.

On the surface, a great result for commonsense, but the wheels of the EU grind slowly, and if the Portuguese ignore this edict, and carry on with the tolls.....it could take years before they are forced to remove the charges. Especially if the fines levied, are less than the revenue from the tolls....as will probably be the case.

[Jaylay]

Must be true....I read it in the Resident!!

Apparently some camra in the Alentejo, and the Spaniards, have complained to the EU, that the imposition of tolls on the A22 is illegal, and the complaint has been upheld by Brussels.

So if the Portuguese dont rescind the tolls, they will be taken to the EU Commission and fined.....or whatever penalty the EU can impose.

On the surface, a great result for commonsense, but the wheels of the EU grind slowly, and if the Portuguese ignore this edict, and carry on with the tolls.....it could take years before they are forced to remove the charges. Especially if the fines levied, are less than the revenue from the tolls....as will probably be the case.

It seems it depends which press you read as what is illegal, is it the tolls or is it the fact that residents get a concession to what is paid

[HampshireRich]

Must be true....I read it in the Resident!!

Apparently some camra in the Alentejo, and the Spaniards, have complained to the EU, that the imposition of tolls on the A22 is illegal, and the complaint has been upheld by Brussels.

So if the Portuguese dont rescind the tolls, they will be taken to the EU Commission and fined.....or whatever penalty the EU can impose.

On the surface, a great result for commonsense, but the wheels of the EU grind slowly, and if the Portuguese ignore this edict, and carry on with the tolls.....it could take years before they are forced to remove the charges. Especially if the fines levied, are less than the revenue from the tolls....as will probably be the case.

On what basis? - any country in the EU must have the right and the power to implement tolls on their highways - otherwise the London Congestion Charge and the M6 Expressway are in deep trouble - not to mention the Itchen Bridge in Southampton!

[James Faro]

Must be true....I read it in the Resident!!

Apparently some camra in the Alentejo, and the Spaniards, have complained to the EU, that the imposition of tolls on the A22 is illegal, and the complaint has been upheld by Brussels.

So if the Portuguese dont rescind the tolls, they will be taken to the EU Commission and fined.....or whatever penalty the EU can impose.

On the surface, a great result for commonsense, but the wheels of the EU grind slowly, and if the Portuguese ignore this edict, and carry on with the tolls..it could take years before they are forced to remove the charges. Especially if the fines levied, are less than the revenue from the tolls....as will probably be the case.

Be interesting case law if somebody uses the A22 gets fined; refuses to pay it and takes the issue to court and challenges the fine on the basis that the toll charge has been declared illegal by the EU.

Fair play to The Algarve Resident for leading a tireless campaign agaaint these tolls.

[laserblazer]

Isn't it something to do with the A22 being funded by Euromoney?

[Bruce Wallis]

It will be interesting to see a definitive explanation of the story, and to learn the possible....or probable outcomes.

[Geoff]

Isn't it something to do with the A22 being funded by Euromoney?

Rings true.....somewhere in this saga I recall reading that one of the conditions for the EU to ( partially) fund the A22 was that it would be free to use....but that the Portuguese Government reckoned they would earn more from tolls than they would incur in fines from breaking the condition.....one does wonder if those calculations are still sound though, bearing in mind the low usage of the A22 now .

[joeysoap]

Isn't it something to do with the A22 being funded by Euromoney?

afaik all the new motorways in Ireland were at least partifally funded by european money. they are all tolled (bar one). all have the provision to 'chuck the money in the bucket ' execpt one which uses overhead gantrys similiar to the A22, with one major difference. You can prepay (or postpay) in almost any shop in Ireland at any time. So if you were planning to use this road say today, tomorrow, twice next week and again in June and July you could purchase 6 journeys this morning and they will cover this toll. until they are used they never go out of date. I accept they have a 'fixed' amount so its easier than on the A22 with it's myriad of gantrys, but nevertheless you should be able to purchase your return journey to the airport in advance if you know exactly how much it will cost (€2.95 + 31c)

http://bit.ly/xm1f2H

the 'bypass' referred to at the bottom of above was opened last year and its tolled. (not a bypass in the traditional sense it's a motorway from Dublin to Galway, which happens to bypass Ballinasloe)

[laserblazer]

I heard that some Irish were cheating the system by buying prepaid tickets and then not using the toll roads

It seems to be aworkable system and easily implemented. I wonder if anyone from Portugal looked at the Irish system before coming up with their own nightmare solution?

[EMM]

Read this weeks PORTUGAL NEWS.

" EU RULES ELECTRONIC TOLLS EXEMPTIONS ILLGEGAL " The TOLLS ARE LEGAL.

The " Free Trips " that residents and business receive are illegal once the initial 10 free trips is exhausted.
These finished on 30/06 anyway and may now end sooner.

[Aitch]

Do we really need another topic on flaming tolls?

[James Faro]

Read this weeks PORTUGAL NEWS.

" EU RULES ELECTRONIC TOLLS EXEMPTIONS ILLGEGAL " The TOLLS ARE LEGAL.

The " Free Trips " that residents and business receive are illegal once the initial 10 free trips is exhausted.
These finished on 30/06 anyway and may now end sooner.

Knew it was too good to be true(the toll, generally itself, being illegal) If it is the case, the Algarve Resident needs to clarify its website head story on this.

[Bruce Wallis]

Do we really need another topic on flaming tolls?

Come on then Aitch.......give us something else interesting to talk about....(Golf doesn't count!!)

[Aitch]

Bruce, please do not let me stop you all from twittering on about the tolls if it makes you happy. I just don't understand why we need about 5 different topics on the go about it!

[Bruce Wallis]

Just ignore it Harry....it keeps us lesser mortals happy