To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2007, Official Report, column 1456W, on tolls, whether the (a) London congestion charge and (b) Durham congestion charge are compliant with the requirements of EU Directive 2004/52/EC. (129865)

Article 1(2) of the EU Directive 2004/52, states that the directive does not apply to road toll systems:

for which no electronic means of toll collection exists.

which do not need the installation of on-board equipment.

which are small, strictly local road toll systems for which the costs of compliance with the requirements of this directive would be disproportionate to the benefits.

Both the London congestion charge and Durham congestion charge are therefore exempt from the EU Directive 2004/52 as they do not require vehicles to install on-board equipment and do not use electronic means to collect the charge.