Interoperability of electronic fee collection in Europe is really an issue since the Resolution of the European Council of 1997, stating that the Member States should implement in the future only compatible systems. One aim of the overall strategy of the Union in Transport is to dismantle the artificial barriers raised between the European countries, and to facilitate cross-border traffic in a seamless way. The first actions following this Resolution were launched on the technical interoperability of equipment in the Research and Development programs of the European Commission, and lead to the definition, implementation and testing of European standards, which have now obtained an impressive success also overseas. The work in this area should be achieved in 2001, but continues on the difficult questions of the agreements between road operators, the possibility to include credit cards and electronic purses as payment means in the on-board units, and also on the harmonisation of legislation between countries in order to allow the cross-border prosecution of toll violators.
Abstract