The compromise reached in the negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council at second reading has been adopted by the Council. It means that Member States may apply an "external cost charge" on lorries, complementing the already existing infrastructure charge designed to recover the costs of construction, operation, maintenance and development of road infrastructure.

The Council adopted the "Eurovignette" directive on 12 of September without discussion at a meeting of the General Affairs Council. Italy and Spain voted against, and Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal abstained. With this Directive, Member States may apply an "external cost charge" on lorries, complementing the already existing infrastructure charge designed to recover the costs of construction, operation, maintenance and development of road infrastructure. According to the Council, it aims at reducing pollution from road freight transport and making traffic flow smoother by levying tolls that factor in the cost of air and noise pollution due to traffic (so-called external costs) and help avoid road congestion. The "Eurovignette" directive has been adopted followed the adoption by the European Parliament last June.

In order to encourage the move to transport patterns which are more respectful of the environment, the level of tolls will vary depending on the emissions of the vehicle, the distance travelled, and the location and the time of road use. Furthermore, it may now be extended to cover all motorways. Member States may also modulate the infrastructure charge to take account of road congestion, with a maximum variation rate of 175% during peak periods limited to five hours per day.

Additionally, the concrete measures adopted are that vehicles complying with the most stringent emission standards will be exempted from the air pollution charge for four years after those standards have become applicable; that means that vehicles of the EURO VI emission class will be exempted until 31 December 2017. In addition, EURO V vehicles will be exempted until the date of application of the EURO VI standards, that is, until 31 December 2013. Less polluting vehicles than EURO VI, namely hybrid and electrical heavy goods vehicles, are exempted.

Member states will have two years following the publication of the directive in the EU's Official Journal to transpose it into their national legislation. Since then, Member states should, but are not obliged to, earmark revenue generated by the infrastructure and external cost charges for projects in the transport sector, in particular in support of the trans-European transport network. There is, however, an earmarking obligation for revenue stemming from infrastructure charge mark-ups in mountainous regions or from the simultaneous application of such a mark-up and an external cost charge to the most polluting vehicles.