Eurovignette 2026: who needs it, where it still applies and what it costs

The Eurovignette is a road user charge for heavy goods vehicles, not a vignette for cars. According to the official booking portal, lorries with a gross vehicle weight of at least 12 tonnes must buy it to use motorways and toll highways in the Eurovignette countries, and on 17 October 2026 the portal lists only Luxembourg and Sweden. If you drive a car, a motorhome or a van, you do not need one. This guide explains who pays, where it applies, what it costs in the 2026 tariff and what the EU directive behind it says.

What the Eurovignette is

The portal calls it a road user charge. One Eurovignette is valid in all the Eurovignette countries for the booked days, also if you enter several in one day. It is stored electronically: you need no account to book it and no paper document in the cab. The German company AGES sells it for the participating countries, which the Swedish tax agency Skatteverket confirms. Online you pay with fuel and fleet cards, or with Mastercard and Visa, and the FAQ says it can also be booked at points of sale.

The word Eurovignette does not appear in the EU directive on road charging, Directive 1999/62/EC. The directive separates a toll, an amount based on the distance travelled and the type of vehicle (article 2, point 7), from a user charge, an amount that gives the right to use the infrastructure for a given period (point 16). The Eurovignette fits the second definition, and article 8 lets two or more member states set up a common user charge system. That classification is this guide's reading, not the directive's wording.

Where it applies in 2026

In Sweden, Skatteverket says the charge applies to all motorways and to the E4 between Uppsala and the Finnish border, the E10 between Töre and the Norwegian border, the E12 between Holmsund and the Norwegian border, the E14 between Sundsvall and the Norwegian border, the E22 between Karlskrona and Norrköping and the E65 between Svedala and Ystad. In the Netherlands the government says trucks pay the vrachtwagenheffing from 1 July 2026.

Germany works differently: its federal toll law charges goods vehicles above 3.5 tonnes on federal motorways and federal roads, buses are exempt, and § 1 defines the charge as a toll in the sense of article 2, point 7 of the directive, so by distance: it is not part of the Eurovignette.

What the 2026 tariff says

The tariff list is valid from 1 January to 31 December 2026. The price depends on the CO2 class, the Euro emission class and the number of axles. For CO2 class 1 with Euro 6, in euros:

The annual tariff runs from 191 euros (CO2 class 5, 1 to 3 axles) to 2,404 euros (CO2 class 1, Euro 0, 4 or more axles). If you do not know the emission class, the portal says to choose Euro 0.

Booking it without trouble

The portal's FAQ answers the questions that cost drivers money:

• No booking afterwards. The start of validity cannot be before the time of booking. A one-day Eurovignette covers a calendar day, starting no earlier than the booking.
• Wrong plate or country code. The booking cannot be corrected; you book a new Eurovignette with the right data.
• No transfer. A Eurovignette cannot, in principle, be transferred to another vehicle.
• Card limits. With Visa and Mastercard you can book four Eurovignettes within three days on the same card, at most 50 euros per booking. Fuel and fleet cards allow up to ten in one process.

For a refund of the unused part, Skatteverket says the application goes to AGES, the amount is counted from the day AGES receives it and a fee of 25 euros is deducted.

What the EU directive sets

Directive 1999/62/EC, in the consolidated version of 24 December 2025 on EUR-Lex, sets the frame:

• Periods and caps. If a user charge applies to heavy-duty vehicles, a day, a week, a month and a year must be offered. The monthly rate may not exceed 10 per cent of the annual rate, the weekly rate 5 per cent and the daily rate 2 per cent (article 7a(2)).
• Weight. The directive treats every vehicle with a technically permissible maximum laden mass above 3.5 tonnes as heavy-duty (article 2, point 18). Until 25 March 2027, a member state may apply tolls or user charges only to heavy goods vehicles of 12 tonnes or more, if it gives reasons and informs the Commission (article 7(13)). The portal still says 12 tonnes today, so check it again after that date.
• The end of user charges. From 25 March 2030, member states may not apply user charges for heavy-duty vehicles on the core trans-European transport network, with exceptions for justified cases (article 7(10) and (11)). A common system under article 8 must be adapted or discontinued by 25 March 2032 (article 7(12)).
• Cars. Where a country applies a user charge to passenger cars, it must offer at least a day, a week or ten days, a month or two months, and a year, and the daily rate may not exceed 9 per cent of the annual rate (article 7a(3)). It does not say which countries charge cars.

If you drive a car

You do not buy a Eurovignette. A country that charges cars does it with its own system, and each system has its own rules: the Austrian vignette, the Hungarian vignette and the Swiss motorway vignette are three guides, and Italian tolls show a toll that is charged by the kilometre. How tolls work compares the four ways a toll is charged, and driving abroad lists every guide.

BlitzBuddy in Luxembourg and Sweden

Camera warnings switch on by themselves when you arrive in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France or Türkiye. BlitzBuddy can start by itself when your phone connects to the cab over Bluetooth, and speak through its speakers. BlitzBuddy is free, with no ads and no subscription. It is available for iPhone; the Android version is coming soon.

Sources

• Eurovignette booking portal, AGES for the Eurovignette countries
• Eurovignette tariffs 2026, AGES
• Eurovignette information and FAQ, AGES
• Vägavgift för utländska tunga fordon, Skatteverket (in Swedish, undated)
• Directive 1999/62/EC, consolidated version of 24 December 2025, EUR-Lex
• Temporary toll on the Blankenburg connection and the ViA15, Rijksoverheid (in Dutch)
• Bundesfernstraßenmautgesetz (BFStrMG), § 1, Federal Ministry of Justice (in German)

Sources read on 17 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Written by BlitzBuddyWe write about driving in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Türkiye.