Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said the current system which is decided by national parliaments was "a burden on car drivers and an obstacle to their mobility" she told German newspaper 'World on Sunday'.

Ahead of a visit to Berlin, Bulc said it would make sense, in the medium term, to work on a European-wide system for cars and lorries which would harmonise road charges across EU countries. Her proposal, she said, was that "the amount of the fee should, in my opinion, be exclusively based on the number of kilometres actually driven and should not be time-dependent." This fits in with the Green agenda of making people drive more slowly and even limiting the speed cars are allowed to reach to keep the engine fuel efficient.

Germany plans to introduce a controversial road toll in 2016 which would specifically target foreign drivers using the Autobahn's. While German drivers would also pay the toll, they would be compensated with a reduction in any existing motoring taxes.