On the hunt for the “simpa” in Europe’s tolls: the new EU system for collecting fines abroad

There is toll, there is controversy. Among the debates that marked 2021 -and they were not few, precisely- perhaps one of the most intense is the one unleashed by the proposal of the Government of introduce tolls on the country’s highways. A “canon”, in ministerial jargon, which a priori is outlined with a cost of 0.01 euros per kilometer and would serve the public coffers to alleviate the tremendous cost of maintenance of state roads. Only in 2022 the Budgets plan to dedicate for this purpose 1,371 million.

Beyond the future plans of the Government to implement new canons, the Moncloa roadmap includes another chapter dedicated to tolls. And in the short term, too. Before the end of 2022, the Ministry of Transport wants to approve the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/520; which, said in Roman paladino, means applying to Spanish law the guidelines set by Brussels so that Europe achieves interoperability of electronic toll payment systems.

And what does the standard of the European Parliament seek? Well, three big goals, basically. The first goes through “setting the necessary conditions” to guarantee that a valid electronic toll system on a Spanish motorway will also be valid on another in Italy, Germany or Belgium —and vice versa—, for example. The second, closely related to the previous one, consists of regulating a European electronic toll service, which will be complementary to those of each nation. And the third, to shield communication between the authorities of the different EU States to speed up the response in the event that one of their drivers marks a “simpa” on some electronic toll road in another country.

Facilitate data sharing

And what exactly does the European guideline say, collected in the eighth chapter of the 2019/520?
It’s not the first time that Brussels gets down to work with electronic tolls. In 2004 the European Commission tried something similar, but the accelerated progress in the sector meant that that experience did not come to fruition and forced it to resume it in 2019. To date, Spain has already taken a crucial step in the third point, the that articulates the response of the countries of the European Union when the driver of another Community State skips an electronic toll in the face.

In its law of December 2021 on traffic, the Spanish Executive has already “incorporated” into national legislation everything related to a key point to lubricate that system: the cross-border exchange of information on the non-payment of road fees in the Union.

Basically, Brussels details how it will “grease” the system to achieve a fluid exchange of information between EU countries. From the outset and to guarantee that the entire process will be carried out through official channels, it establishes that communication, the exchange of data from offenders, will be carried out through two main channels. The first —key piece in the system— are the “national contact points”, a reference that each country provides for the management of information on vehicles, their owners and holders. Each will be governed by the laws of its own State.

The other key link in the process is the information system on vehicles and driving licenses —EUCARIS, for its acronym in English—. Each State must guarantee that any data that is exchanged for the collection of electronic tolls is carried out through its computer application, an official channel designed precisely to facilitate the exchange of information on vehicles, driving licenses and other personal data that accompany them. As there is no central database, each country is thus responsible for its own registry.

With these clear ingredients, Brussels explains that, “in order to allow identification” of the vehicle that has skipped the electronic toll, its owner or holder, each State must grant access to the “contact points” of other countries. The objective: that can perform automated searches to locate the offender. Of course, they can only be done with the full registration number.

To corroborate the proper functioning of the system, the EU clarifies that each of the countries must send a complete report to the Commission before April 19, 2023 —the States should have adopted the regulation months ago— and periodically, each three years from that date. This report must include the number of automated searches that have been directed to the points of contact and will describe the “follow-up” of non-payments.

The accent placed on privacy and data management is linked to the characteristics of tolls. Unlike the penalties for committing a traffic violation, such as driving drunk or without a seat belt, in the case of liens there are private actors. Many of the toll roads, as is the case with the highway concessionaires in Spain —the AP-9, for example, which connects Ferrol with the Portuguese border— are managed by companies.

With the data clear, the next question is: Who decides whether to fine?

The decision of whether or not to finally initiate the process is in the hands of the State in which the road is located where the driver has “skipped” the electronic toll, not that of the driver’s country. If you decide to do so and start up the machinery, you must address the user in a way that also regulates the European standard. Basically, you must provide all the data of the alleged “simpa”: the canon, the place, the date, the time, the national regulations that have been violated and, of course, of course, how much the sanction amounts to and the possible “consequences”. juridical”.

In the notification —the directive even offers a basic model, as a guide— the driver will be informed that he can appeal. And to avoid misunderstandings or that the “hunted driver” can claim that he has not been taken for granted, the information will be sent in the language in which it is the registration document of the car or, in one of the official languages ​​of your country.

And who receives the notice? The “owner, holder of the vehicle or any other person identified as the alleged perpetrator of the non-payment of the road fee”, includes the European standard.

Another major actor intervenes in the equation: the “entities responsible for the collection”, to which the data of the offender may be provided. The directive emphasizes, yes, that it will only access the “necessary” information for the procedure and “for the sole purpose” of collecting the fee. What’s more, the EU makes it a duty for the States to “ensure” that this is effectively done.

Claim the “simpas”

At this point, the key question is: And then what? Does the directive establish any tool to guarantee the payment of electronic tolls? For Mario Arnaldo, president of Associated European Motorists (AEA) that is precisely the great void that continues to exist in the system. “The community directive has not resolved the issue of execution in the same way that it has not resolved it on the issue of fines in which the judicial authority does not intervene. It is not a problem of Spain, but of European regulations,” he reflects. The problem, it abounds, is not the exchange of information, but how to force the payment of the amounts when the driver refuses to face it.

Arnold remembers that EUCARIS It has been working for a long time and allows police from different countries to exchange information when faced with certain crimes. The latest advances have made it easier for this transfer of data to be more agile and generalized; but, he insists, the system continues to have the weak point of “execution” when a judicial authority does not intervene in the process. Regarding the changes introduced in the law at the end of last year, Arnaldo points out that they would already be “legally in force”: “Another thing is that the operators that carry it out have been created.”

The million dollar question is: How much does it cost to skip an electronic toll? At least in Spain, the Traffic Law of 2015, updated at the end of last year, contemplates that the non-payment of tolls is considered a “minor infraction”, a category sanctioned with fines of up to 100 euros. In the case of serious infractions —if traffic is obstructed, for example—, the fine rises to 200 and 500 if they are of a very serious nature. The sanction is demanded by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), which does not remove the concessionaire, which in turn demands the canon that is owed to it.

With rest to other countries, it is not the first time that a “simpa” it is expensive for Spanish drivers. In 2014 it was news the decision of the motorway concessionaires of Portugal to launch an offensive to collect the amounts owed by users on the other side of La Raya. With the help of a consultancy based in Andalusia, the firms Brisa and Ascendi have claimed unpaid tolls from thousands of Spanish users since 2009. In addition to the delay, in their notifications they demanded the payment of 25 euros for “administrative costs”. In the case of the Portuguese highways, brigades came to circulate dedicated to “hunt” Galician cars from a “list of defaulters”.

Proof of the extent of defaults is that, according to Mapfre, the “simpas” of tolls abroad suppose in Europe about 300 million euros per year. The amount is explained in part by the characteristics of many of the canons that operate in Europe, especially those that operate electronically. In Portugal, for example, the lanes for drivers who have OBEs have no barriers and on toll roads, the former Scut, gantries with cameras are used.

The amounts for circumventing tolls usually exceed the amount of the canon. According to KodinoFor example, in 2021 jumping the barrier in Italy carried a fine of 85 to 338 euros. In the case of France, Pagatelia warns that the “simpa” suppose “a serious administrative sanction”.

Today, in any case, the European Union already has mechanisms that make it easier to collect sanctions committed abroad, within Member States. The authorities can claim for violations such as driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, running traffic lights, not wearing a seat belt or case, or using a mobile phone while driving.

Pictures | Christian Córdova (Flickr), Lindsay Kinkade (Flickr) Y Alper Çuğun (Flickr)