With the report 'Sharp goals, sharp choices', the Van Geest Committee presents an inventory of additional measures to achieve the climate goals. For example, one of the proposals is to increase the truck levy and to expand the roads where the levy must be paid. Transport and Logistics Netherlands (TLN), evofenedex and the Vereniging Eigen Rijders Nederland (VERN) do not agree with these recommendations. The recommendations do not contribute to the sustainability challenge for the transport sector and also worsen the competitive position of BV Nederland.

In 2019, the parties agreed to the introduction of the truck levy on the condition that the proceeds become available for the enormous sustainability task facing the sector. The so-called return of the net proceeds is necessary to make it financially possible for the thousands of companies in transport and logistics to actually achieve sustainability. The sooner these funds become available, the sooner sustainability steps can be taken. Van Geest's proposal to increase the truck tax, while the higher net income flows back to the treasury, is at odds with earlier agreements with the government.

The transport parties find it unacceptable that Van Geest's advice proposes to unilaterally change the rules of the game before the match has even started. If the government were to follow this advice, it would flout all previous agreements on the truck levy.

The 2019 Climate Agreement states that the national government will introduce the truck tax in 2023 and that the net proceeds will be used primarily for the sustainability and innovation of road transport in consultation with the parties liable to pay the tax (evofenedex, VERN and TLN). An important goal, according to the text in the Climate Agreement, is the reduction of CO2 emissions, for example by encouraging non-fossil driving. 

Based on agreements with those parties subject to the levy, the proceeds can also be used to make the logistics sector more sustainable. These agreements were later elaborated in legislation and regulations. However, the actual introduction of the truck levy has been delayed and is now planned for 2026 at the earliest. Making the return funds available earlier can be a good step to accelerate sustainability.

The recommendation of the Van Geest Committee therefore amounts to a disguised tax measure. In the view of TLN, evofenedex and the VERN, the cabinet can only remain a reliable interlocutor if it emphatically distances itself from these proposals in the area of ​​the truck tax.