Tolls imposed by the Portuguese government on Portugal’s formerly free road network are illegal and should be removed. The European Commission has threatened to take Portugal to the European Court of Justice unless the tolls system is scrapped forthwith.
The tolls infringe community law and expert opinion in the test case brought by Aveiro council had concluded that the ruling is valid for all SCUT roads, including the Via do Infante across the Algarve.
The European Commission upheld a complaint from Aveiro council against the Portuguese Government on the introduction of tolls on the formerly free road running through its council area.
This means that toll collections on all former SCUT roads are all illegal and the European Commission wants the situation reversed as soon as possible.
The Commission was responding to the complaint filed in November 2010 by the council in Aveiro which argued that the introduction of tolls on former SCUT roads was "an unjustified violation of the principle of free movement of people and a flagrant violation of the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality."
Given the facts, the Commission upheld the complaint by Aveiro against the Portuguese Government specifically for the A17, A25 and A29 but covering all SCUT roads in the country.
The European Commission has taken 5 years to decide on the matter but the ruling is clear: remove the tolls now.
On the question of misuse of funds, the Commission ruled that Portugal will not have to return Community funds for highways, since "there is no allegation that these funds have been misused."
Aveiro council said that it "will continue to monitor this process and to take any necessary steps to counter the illegalities on which the toll system was introduced for former SCUT roads. This does not exclude the adoption of new initiatives with the EC which is responsible for transport and with Portuguese MEPs in the European Parliament."
It is unlikely that the Portuguese government will take any notice of this ruling as the costs of extracting itself from generous concession agreements can only be marveled at.
The 20 year Via do Infante deal whereby the hapless taxpayer is subsiding the concession holder for each car not using the road, up to an agreed limit, has cost up to €40 million a year in additional subsidy from the general taxpayer, making a mockery of the Passos Coelho mantra "user pays."
Any European court action in response to Portugal's intransigence may take years and in the meantime the current tolls system will no doubt remain in place.
