Michael Frey - European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau , FR-DE

The Advice Case “European solution for a vignette for air pollution control” submitted by the Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau EGTC (FR-DE) in the course of the II call for proposals of the initiative b-solutions received consultancy by Michael Fray, contracted by the Association of the European Border Regions (AEBR) in consideration of his legal expertise and knowledge of cross-border issues.

The EGTC denounced that free movement of cars and people across the border is hindered by discrepancies in the air quality certificates (vignettes) for vehicles envisaged by the two countries.

Frey’s analysis shows that the hurdles lie in the non-congruent transposition of “Clean air directives” (2008/50/EC, Dir. 96/62/EC, Dir. 1999/30/EC) into national laws, which led to a different classification of the air quality certificates in the two countries.

The solution proposed envisages the development of a common legal framework for the vignettes. For example, this could be achieved with the introduction of an exemption clause within the national legislations for cross border areas.

To learn more about “European solution for a vignette for air pollution control” and read the in-depth analysis of the expert, download the full report here.

The information here provided have been developed in the framework of b-solutions, an initiative of the European Comission’s DG REGIO managed by the Association of the European Border Regions (AEBR).

The reports here included are the result of a consultation provided by legal/cross-border cooperation experts on obstacles of a legal or administrative nature– referred to as Advice Cases - selected in the framework of the II Call for Porposal of the initiative b-solutions.