Brussels, 15/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, has adopted a harsher tone with regard to the German motorway vignette project. In a letter sent to the German Minister for Transport, Alexander Dobrindt, on Friday 12 December, she expressed her concerns about the project's failure to respect the principle of non-discrimination.
The Commissioner has hitherto demonstrated both caution and reserve with regard to this idea and has said that, above all, she supports the user pays principle. Meetings between the Commission and Germany have increased significantly on this subject (EUROPE 11201) and her letter therefore provoked some surprise on Friday evening.
Bulc has said that the motorway vignette project was a breach of the non-discrimination principle based on nationality and residency, as guaranteed by the treaty. The Commissioner considers that there is “indirect discrimination” because German drivers will benefit from a road tax refund to compensate for purchasing the vignette. The Commissioner also criticised the tariff rates suggested. The price of the short period vignettes (€22 for two months, €10 for 10 days) are mainly purchased by foreigners and would be “disproportionate” compared to the price of the annual vignettes (a maximum of €130), bought mainly by German residents.
In this connection, the Commissioner has called on Minister Dobrindt to alleviate these concerns, before proceeding with the legislative procedure for introducing the legislation (Council of Ministers approval on Wednesday). An initial response from the latter's services would mention the fact that the Commission does not yet have the latest version that will be submitted to federal ministers.
The Spokesperson for the Commissioner, Jakub Adamowicz, explained that information had been provided in a spirit of positive cooperation between Brussels and Berlin and that the Commission will continue to follow the situation closely, as guardian of the treaties and give its assessment of this law once it is adopted.
The president of the EP's transport committee, Michael Cramer (Greens/, Germany), welcomed the position taken by the Commissioner and said that the tollbooth project was not fair and “favoured drivers frequently using the motorways and consuming a lot of energy”. (MD)