The European Union has declared its intention to open negotiations with 11 candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
In the first round Hungary, Poland, Estonia,the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Cyprus have been invited. Becoming a member meanscountries will have to comply with the aquis communitaire. The environmental approximation process will present greater challenges than any previous accession and will involve high costs.
Environmentally related issues in the transport sector include emission limit values of different kind of (new) vehicles, new fuel standards, the environmental impact from new road, rail and aviation infrastructure (including Trans-European Networks), and complying with current as well as the proposed new minimum levels of the taxation of transport fuels. The aim of this paper is to identify possible problems connected with the taxation of road fuels and vehicles in the light of EU enlargement.
