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EU takes legal action against German road toll

18 June 2015, 19:19 CET
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EU takes legal action against German road toll

Autobahn - Photo Jochen Jansen

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission is taking legal action against German plans to introduce a road toll for its motorways, EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said Wednesday, amid concerns it discriminated against non-Germans.

The EU Commission had "substantial doubts" whether the toll complied with European law, Bulc said.

Germany wants to introduce a system similar to the one in Switzerland where motorists must buy a windscreen sticker to use highways.

"A road toll is only compatible with EU law if it doesn't discriminate on the basis of nationality," said Commmissioner Bulc.

The annual cost of the German sticker would be in the region of 130 euros ($148) per car.

Brussels is concerned the system is discriminatory because non-Germans would pay more, whereas German residents would see no net rise in the annual levies they pay.

For German motorists, the current annual road tax would be split into a vehicle tax and the charge for the motorway sticker.

The scheme, due to be launched in 2016, is a pet project of Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party.

Its sister party, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, and the CDU's ruling coalition allies, the Social Democrats, reluctantly agreed to it as part of an election deal.

Germany plans to use an electronic monitoring system that registers the number plates of every vehicle for which a charge has been paid on the country's "Autobahns".

The commission is initially informing Germany of its concerns in a formal letter of notice, giving Berlin two months to respond.

But Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt insisted that the toll was fair and would not be scuppered by Brussels.

"The road tax will come," he told the mass-circulation daily Bild.

"Nobody is discriminated against. All car owners pay an infrastructure levy. What we do with our car tax comes solely under our national jurisdiction. Brussels has no say in the matter," the minister said.

But Dobrindt said that Berlin would postpone the introduction of the motorway toll -- originally planned from next year -- while the case in Brussels was still pending.


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