Reductions or the elimination of tolls on the formerly free motorways were discussed in the Portuguese parliament on Friday.

Four years after the tolls were introduced on those roads, the Communists and Left Bloc wanted the charges to be removed, while the Socialists and Popular Party said the tolls should be reduced. The Social democrats, who were responsible for starting these tolls, simply said the toll gantries may be relocated.

Speaking to Lusa News Agency ahead of the meeting, Socialist MP Luís Moreira Testa said his party was going to propose reducing the tolls to “allow people and companies in less favoured areas have more mobility and be more competitive”.

The Socialists are against the abolition of the tolls because “it is absolutely imperative and necessary to make sure the budget remains balanced”.

“Unfortunately, that still remains a long way off. What we propose is that there is a trend to give back the rights drivers had in the past, before the tolls were introduced” he said.

On the other hand, the PSD also exclude the elimination of the tolls because they support the user-payer idea.

"If the users don’t pay for the service, it will be up to the tax payer to foot the bill”, Luís Leite Ramos MP told Lusa.