France mulls foreign truck tax as green measure

PARIS (Reuters) - French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde is considering imposing a "tax" on trucks that pass through France, charging them an amount indexed on the distance they travel, she said in an interview published on Friday.

Lagarde said the measure would be part of the follow-up to an environmental policy conference in October that sought ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a meeting known as the "Environment Grenelle", a reference to talks on social reform held after a wave of street protests in 1968.

"To follow up on the Environment Grenelle, we are thinking, with (Environment Minister) Jean-Louis Borloo, of putting in place a per-kilometer tax for heavy trucks that cross France," Lagarde said in an interview with financial daily Les Echos.

The measure, which would be modeled on a scheme that is due to be implemented in the eastern region of Alsace, could bring in 1 billion euros ($1.57 billion) a year by 2010, which could be spent on France's transport infrastructure, she added.

France has come in for criticism from the European Commission over its budget deficit, which grew to 2.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, close to the EU's 3 percent limit.

Lagarde is aiming to bring the deficit down to 2.5 percent of GDP this year with a view to balancing the budget by 2012.

"Between now and 2012, the absolute priority is eliminating the public deficit, not lowering taxes. The situation of our public finances forbids it," she said.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy)