Thankfully – there will not be any kilometer-based fees

I have on several occasions on this blog been critical of the proposal that Sweden should introduce kilometer-based fees or road wear taxes for heavy vehicles.
I have not been the only one who feels this way.
The proposal is strongly criticized by the business community, The Swedish Trade Union Confederation and representatives of rural areas.

It is therefore very encouraging that the government has now decided to back down on the proposal.
If it would have been approved, it would have been very noticeable in the Swedish transport industry and the countryside.

An investigation has been completed and it contains over 850 pages, but before it could even be submitted, the government decided that it would be put on hold.

– The assessment is that there’s a risk of the proposals deteriorating Swedish haulers’ competitiveness and that is not acceptable, says Minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson in a comment to TT.

The Minister for the Environment, Karolina Skog (MP), says that the governing parties are "absolutely united" in their analysis of this proposal.

– We want a road wear tax, which can lead to both the cargo being shifted from road to rail and sea, and which can also create order in the haulage industry. We will not be satisfied until we have a proposal that solves both of the two tasks, she says to TT.
The government must now immediately begin the work to develop a revised proposal for road wear taxes. That work will take place in the Cabinet office – no new inquiry will be appointed.

In the SVT program Agenda a few weeks ago, the Minister for the Environment said that she could not provide any guarantees for a kilometer-based fee before the election.

Well, we certainly hope so.