Commission serves notice on Austria for Brenner tolls

Austria's failure to reduce toll rates on the Brenner motorway in line with a Court of Justice ruling last year has brought it into trouble with the European Commission. Austria has two months to explain iteself before facing Court action.<P>The Commission believes the toll for the full itinerary to be unjustified, and Austria is under notice to comply with a Court ruling in September last year to reduce toll charges for the full stretch of the Brenner motorway to a level "corresponding to the infrastructure costs".<P>The Court had ruled that Austria had failed to comply with its obligations under Directive 93/89/EEC by applying:<P> * toll rates on the partial itineraries of the Brenner motorway disproportionate to those charged for the full itinerary;<P> * toll rates on the full itinerary higher than those justified by the infrastructure costs.<P>While Austria introduced new charges at the beginning of this year "proportionate to the rates charged for the full itinerary", the level of the toll for the full itinerary, says the Commission, remains disproportionate.<BR>