Brussels, 08/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - The way in which Germany intends to raise €600 million a year to fund its road infrastructure has created a heated controversy. The European commissioner for transport, Siim Kallas, is waiting for further details before reaching a decision on whether the German vignette is discriminatory or not.
On Monday 7 July, German Minister for Transport Alexander Dobrindt presented the main guidelines for a road toll system for motorists and motorcyclists on all the country's roads by 2016. Access to the German road network will be subject to the purchase of a €10 vignette for 10 days or €20 for two months and around €100 for a year (depending on what kind of vehicle is used) for all vehicles, whether they are registered in Germany or elsewhere. In this way, the tax reform does not contravene European rules. A road toll system is applied in around twenty European countries and the vignette is the preferred choice of Germany's neighbouring countries such as Austria and Slovenia.
Nonetheless, the German proposal includes a refund for Germans on their vehicle tax (KFZ-Steuer). Thus, the introduction of the vignette would not cost German residents a cent. This financial framework makes the proposal for the vignette discriminatory towards foreign drivers, even though on paper the German toll system does not infringe European requirements. Kallas stated on the same day that the toll principle would be acceptable “if there is no discrimination on the basis of nationality”. He pointed out, however, that at this stage the Commission does not have sufficient details about the proposal to be able to assess it (see EUROPE 1116).
Over the next few weeks, the German authorities will continue their dialogue with the European Commission on the subject. So far, the proposal is only supported by the CSU party and still has to pass the legislative stages in Germany before it can be put into practice. (MD)