It will be better to avoid the Alsatian motorways on Monday morning. A snail operation for road hauliers is announced between Mulhouse and Strasbourg. In the viewfinder, the heavy goods vehicle tax on which the European Collectivity of Alsace (CEA), resulting from the merger in 2021 of the departmental councils of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin, must decide on October 21.
The CEA plans to introduce a tax on heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes from the beginning of 2027 on the motorway which crosses the region from north to south. The reason given? Due to more onerous taxes on German highways, a large flow of trucks is making the detour via Alsace. With this new tax, Frédéric Bierry, president of the CEA, explained on Friday that he wanted to “rebalance heavy goods vehicle transit traffic”.
An effect on “purchasing power”
Except that locally the concerns are strong. In reaction to this project, the Collective for the competitiveness of the Alsatian economy contacted the Minister for Transport, François Durovray, who, the day before in Strasbourg, nevertheless provided his support to the Alsatian community.
“It is important to clarify that it is not only the transporters who are firmly opposed to this measure, but all of the economic sectors in Alsace, who are up against this tax”, affirms the economic association . And added: “All sectors, whatever they may be, will be seriously impacted by this tax, well beyond the transport sector, all the way to the purchasing power of consumers.”
This collective calls into question “the lack of knowledge of the file, the economic realities and the real impact of this measure” of the new Minister of Transport.
Truck traffic on the rise
Alsace has recorded an 18% increase in the number of heavy goods vehicles since the increase in the fee on the German side at the end of 2023, with even a peak of + 30% in August.
“Do not do R-Pass (the name of the tax project), it would be to subsidize the traffic of heavy goods vehicles in transit and continue to make the north-south axis a vacuum cleaner for trucks”, judges Frédéric Bierry (various right) while also pointing out the increase in pollution, traffic jams, accidents , and deterioration of the roadway.
According to him, “the concerns of Alsatian economic circles are taken into account”. “The consultation will continue from Monday, and each time we take advantage of the comments to improve the system”, he assured, recalling that he had already reduced the portion of road which will be taxed, going from the 500 km initially planned to 200 km.
The memory of the “Red Bonnets” echoes
The CEA also highlights its desire to minimize the impact on Alsatian companies, to exempt different branches thanks to exemptions. It intends to offset the tax by reinjecting part of the revenue to support the economy. Applied mainly on the A35, the tax would bring in 64 million euros per year, half of which would come from transit traffic, according to a study.
“The proposal from the Alsace Community today, if I understood correctly, they are at 15 cents per kilometer, where in Germany, we are at three or four times more,” underlined the Minister of Transport. And to assure: “We have not yet been able to show the benefit that our fellow citizens could derive from it. I’m not saying that we’re going to find the solution there, just like that, but we have to work on it.”
Asked about the strong opposition aroused in 2013 by the ecotax project in Brittany, with the “Red Bonnets” movement, the head of the CEA believes that the “context is completely different”. “More than 50% of the tax will be paid by transit traffic. In Brittany this was not the case. The impact for economic players will be low, and with the exemptions on which we are working, that leaves me to think that we must be able to move forward with the economic world,” he hopes.
