France suspends truck ‘Ecotax’ amidst violent protests

The French government has indefinitely suspended the French ‘Ecotax’ (Transport Operator, October) on heavy goods vehicles, which was due to come into force in the New Year.

The planned green initative, which would have seen both French and foreign trucks over 3.5 tonnes pay to use parts of the French road network from 1 January 2014, prompted a series of increasingly violent demonstrations in Brittany by agricultural workers, lorry drivers and other interested parties.

The controversial scheme, whose implementation has already been delayed on technical grounds, will now be suspended for a period of “dialogue”, but not entirely abandoned, French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said. He claimed he would work to find “solutions which will avoid a spiral of violence.”

DKV Euro Service, which has been processing hauliers’ registrations for the scheme, said in a statement: “The Ecotaxe is suspended at this time, and certainly not rejected. This means that over time a new start date will be set and the necessary satellite-based on-board units need to be registered and installed.

“For this reason DKV Euro Service will continue with the registration process and keeps it open for all transport and logistics companies to ensure timely delivery of the new onboard units for their customers.”