These are the most expensive toll routes in Europe for motorists
Italy and Denmark follow closely, with toll fees of €68.30 and €54.00, respectively.
A study by the European tollway seller, Tollwayr, analysed toll fees across European countries, examining costs for various motorways, tunnels and bridges to identify the most expensive routes for car drivers.
France leads the list with the Eurotunnel crossing between France and the UK charging €72.00, making it the most expensive toll in Europe.
The country also appears in the top five positions with its major motorway routes, including the Paris-Marseille route at €68.90.
"What's particularly notable is that France doesn't just have one or two expensive routes – it consistently charges premium prices across its major highways and tunnels," said Mattijs Wijnmalen, CEO of Tollwayr.
"The country's extensive toll network reflects significant infrastructure investment, but also places a considerable financial burden on both local drivers and tourists."
Italy ranks high on the list, with the Milan-Bari route costing drivers €68.30, making it the third most expensive toll in Europe.
Denmark and Sweden both feature in the top ten, with the Øresundsbron bridge connecting the two countries, charging €54.00 from either side, making it the most expensive bridge toll in Europe.
Croatia, while not in the top ten, has the most expensive tolls in Eastern Europe, charging €32.80.
On the other hand, the United Kingdom's Warburton Bridge charges just €0.14, making it the least expensive toll in Europe, while Bosnia and Herzegovina's Svilaj-Odžak section costs only €0.61 for cars.
Leaders of some of the world's biggest economic powers have arrived in the Canadian Rockies for a Group of Seven summit, overshadowed by an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and US President Donald Trump's unresolved trade war.
Israel's strikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliation, which appeared to catch many world leaders unaware, is the latest sign of a more volatile world.
Trump in recent days vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a US official said, in an indication of how far Israel was prepared to go.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had discussed efforts to de-escalate the crisis with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other world leaders and said he expected 'intense discussions' would continue at the summit.
As summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a joint statement, or communique, at the end of the meeting.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that the bloc was committed to strengthening Ukraine, as the G7 leaders gathered to meet in Kananaskis, Canada for crucial talks.
"To achieve peace through strength, we must put more pressure on Russia to secure a real ceasefire, to bring Russia to the negotiating table and to end this war," Von der Leyen said during a news conference ahead of meetings.
She added that the summit will be "defined by geo-economics and geopolitics at the same time."
"We need a frank discussion among the G7 partners, restoring a sense of stability and predictability among ourselves. That is the first priority," Von der Leyen said.
Trump is the summit wild card. Looming over the meeting are his inflammatory threats to make Canada the 51st state and take over Greenland.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland on Sunday for a symbolic stop on his way to Canada. Macron warned that Greenland is 'not to be sold' nor 'to be taken."
With other leaders wanting to talk to Trump in an effort to talk him out of imposing tariffs, the summit risks being a series of bilateral conversations rather than a show of unity.
Leaders who are not part of the G7 but have been invited to the summit by Carney include the heads of state of India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and the UAE. Avoiding tariffs will continue to be top of mind.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to attend the summit and is expected to meet with Trump, a reunion coming just months after their bruising Oval Office encounter which laid bare the risks of having a meeting with the US president.
Starmer met with Carney in Ottawa before the summit for talks focused on security and trade, in the first visit to Canada by a British prime minister for eight years.
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Euronews
43 minutes ago
- Euronews
Warning signs in Europe's job market: Workers now brace for tariffs
Much attention has been given to how US import tariffs might hit Europe's industries and corporate giants as the once-solid transatlantic trading relationship faces one of the biggest challenges of the modern era. One area that has been largely ignored — the fate of workers — could also suffer, as ripples in the EU's economic stability lead to a reduction in job opportunities and weakened employment stability. Here's an overview of what to expect in the months ahead. Job vacancy rate One indicator of labour market health is the rate at which vacancies appear, a sign of how stable businesses feel. When lots of jobs are up for grabs, it tends to be a sign that companies are confident and ready to hire more people. When openings start to dry up, it usually means they're getting cautious. If vacancies are rising while unemployment is low, workers have more choice and bargaining power as demand is high relative to supply. But when available job offers fall, it's often the first hint that the labour market is slowing down. Employers generally hit pause on hiring well before they start letting people go, which is why vacancy rates are such an important early clue as to what's coming. And right now, the data shows risks ahead. In first-quarter figures released by the European Commission in June, there was a slight drop in the job vacancy rate, which came in at 2.4% in the eurozone. That's down from 2.5% in the final quarter of 2024. When looking at the yearly change, the drop is more significant, as the rate for the first quarter of 2024 was 2.9%. As seen in the graph below, the COVID-19 pandemic had the most pronounced impact on job vacancies, much more than the 2008-2009 economic crisis. While the market recovered somewhat in 2021 and 2022, vacancy rates are now dropping again. Vacancy rates dropped the most in Germany, Greece, Austria and Sweden, indicating that employers are growing more reluctant, if only marginally, to hire more people. For workers, a falling vacancy rate often means fewer opportunities to change jobs, less leverage to negotiate higher pay, and a longer wait to re-enter the market if they get laid off. If the decline seen at the start of 2025 continues, workers could find themselves in a much tougher bargaining position by the end of the year. Hours worked and overtime Another important indicator is the squeeze on working hours or indicators that show employers are cutting back shifts, a step often taken before moving to layoffs or instituting a hiring freeze. Overtime hours also decrease when employers trim shifts in response to falling demand or input shortages. In the EU, in 2024, people aged 20-64 years worked 36 hours on average per week, including full- and part-time work. This number refers to the hours people worked in their main job in the reference week. Countries with the longest working week were Greece at 39.8 hours, Bulgaria at 39, Poland at 38.9 and Romania at 38.8. By contrast, when it comes to European Union countries, the Netherlands had the shortest working week at 32.1 hours, followed by Austria, Germany and Denmark (all with 33.9 hours). The number of hours worked decreased by 0.3% in both the eurozone and the European Union in the first quarter of 2025, compared with the previous quarter, according to Eurostat. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hours worked increased by 0.1% in the eurozone and decreased by 0.2% in the EU. Fewer hours on the job does not just mean more free time. It often means less pay and fewer benefits, especially for hourly workers. If hours continue to shrink, the impact will be felt fastest among lower- and middle-income households already squeezed by increased living costs. Even if employment levels hold steady, underemployment — when workers have a job but can't get the hours they want — can rise. In the first quarter of 2025, 10.9% of the EU's extended labour force was underutilised, amounting to around 23.6 million people. This suggests that the erosion in job quality can run deeper than headline unemployment figures might immediately show. Labour rights Europe's institutional safeguards for workers are deteriorating, which is worrying when considering the economic shocks that could potentially be caused by tariffs in the future. The Labour Rights Index for 2024 flags gaps in legislation based on its assessment of labour protections across the world. It evaluates aspects like freedom of association, employment security and family responsibilities through a 0–100 scoring system. In Europe, countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, France and Italy score 94, while countries such as Germany and the UK score 88.5 and 88 respectively. While many EU countries score highly on paper, the index highlights persistent legislative gaps in areas such as protection against unfair dismissal and equal treatment for non-standard workers. These gaps mean that even in stable economic periods, large groups of workers remain less shielded from sudden job loss or deteriorating conditions. Meanwhile, the ITUC Global Rights Index 2025 shows how these legal weaknesses translate into reality, and tracks violations of labour rights such as restrictions on strikes, the formation of unions, and judicial access and protections on a yearly basis. According to ITUC, Europe saw its worst-ever average score in 2025, at 2.78, compared to 2.73 in 2024 and 2.56 in 2023. "Europe continued a rapid deterioration from 1.84 in 2014 — the biggest decline seen in any region worldwide over the past 10 years," the ITUC report highlights. According to the ITUC index, "nearly three-quarters of European countries violated the right to strike and almost a third of them arrested or detained workers. More than half were denied or restricted access to justice — a sharp increase from 32% in 2024." What does this mean? The economic signals of a slowing labour market — falling vacancy rates, shrinking working hours, and rising underemployment — suggest that workers may have less power to protect themselves just as their jobs and incomes come under strain. In other words, tariffs and other trade shocks could land much harder in 2025, not simply because the economy is cooling, but because the institutional defences that once helped workers weather downturns are eroding at the same time. With early warning signs already visible, the next few quarters will reveal whether these shifts are temporary tremors or the start of a deeper downturn for Europe's workforce. If the combination of tariff pressure and eroding rights persists, the cost could be measured not only in lost jobs, but in lasting damage to workers' bargaining power for years to come.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
India reels from US tariff hike threat
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France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
'Stop production': Small US firms battered by shifting tariffs
The announcement involved a 10-percent levy on imports from most partners, set to rise further for many of them. For Cambodia, the planned duty was a staggering 49 percent. "That night, we spoke to our factory," Knepler told AFP. "We literally cannot afford to bring our own product into the US with that kind of tariff." The decision was even more painful for Knepler and his Pennsylvania-based company, True Places, given that he had previously shifted production of his outdoor chairs to Cambodia from China, following tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by Trump during his first presidency. "We were facing 25-percent tariffs in China, and there were zero-percent tariffs in Cambodia," Knepler recalled. It took him a year to move the massive equipment and molds to Cambodia only to see another steep levy. With Trump's "reciprocal" tariff hikes taking effect last Thursday, these Cambodia-made chairs face a lower -- though still significant -- 19 percent duty. 'Wheel of misfortune' Knepler's experience echoes that of many US companies producing everything from yo-yos to clothing abroad, after years of offshoring American manufacturing. To cope, businesses use various strategies. Some pass on the new costs as a surcharge to customers. Others halted imports when duties reached prohibitive levels, hoping Trump would strike bilateral trade deals that would make their businesses viable again. Trump frames his tariffs as paid for by other countries, touting tens of billions in revenue this year -- but firms contest this description. "We make the tariff payments when the product comes into the US," Knepler stressed. "Before we sell it, we're the ones who pay that tariff." Now saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt he took on to relocate the company's production to Cambodia, Knepler worries if his business will survive. He likens the rapid policy changes to spinning a "wheel of misfortune," resulting in a new tariff each time. Over four months this year, the planned tariff rate on Cambodian exports has gone from 0 to 49 percent, to 10 percent, to 36 percent, to 19 percent, he said. "No one knows what it's going to be tomorrow," he added. "It's impossible to have any kind of confidence in what the rate will be in three- or four-months' time." Economists warn that tariffs could fuel inflation and drag on growth. EY chief economist Gregory Daco noted that the duties effective Thursday raise the average tariff rate to 17.6 percent from 2.8 percent at the start of the year -— the highest level since the early 1930s. While Trump lauds the limited effects his duties have had on US prices so far, experts say tariffs take time to filter through to consumers. Many of Trump's sweeping levies also face legal challenges over his use of emergency economic powers. Price hikes The global tariffs are especially hard to avoid. Barton O'Brien said he accelerated production and borrowed money to bring in as much inventory as possible before Trump took office. On the election campaign trail, the Republican leader had floated a 60-percent tariff on imports from China, where O'Brien makes most of his products. The Maryland-based veteran selling dog harnesses and other accessories rented a container to ship as many products as he could before Trump's new tariffs would take effect. "I had dog life jackets in the bathroom," he told AFP. There is "no way" to produce domestically, he said, adding that comparable American-made products sell for nearly six times his retail prices. He makes some items too in India and Vietnam. But Chinese products face an additional 30-percent duty this year, even under an extended truce now expiring in November. The rates for India and Vietnam are 25 percent and 20 percent respectively. "If you look at the brands I compete with, we're all made in the same countries. We're all going to have to raise prices together," said O'Brien.
