Brussels, 27/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Talks between the European Commission and Germany on the subject of introducing a vignette for the German motorway network are failing to make headway.
On Tuesday 27 January, the European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, visited the German Federal Minister responsible for this subject, Alexander Dobrindt, to discuss the matter. The position of the European Commission, however, does not appear to have changed after this meeting (see EUROPE 11218). The Commissioner stated that she supported the user pays principle for road tax and recognised that Germany could use this to finance its infrastructure, as long as German rules respected the principles of the European treaties, including non-discrimination towards foreign drivers, a subject that has created a lot of tension. At the end of the meeting, the Commissioner stated that “a solution allowing Germany to succeed in the transition from its present system to a system which includes the user pay principle, while fully respecting the EU Treaties, is possible”. Other meetings are planned in this respect. The Commissioner also discussed the question of the ongoing railway reform, with the Minister, as well as the forthcoming presentation of a European aviation strategy. The impact of the German minimum wage on the transport sector was of course raised but the Commission did not wish to comment further on this matter (see EUROPE 11239 and 11237). (MD)