Austrian Transport Minister Jörg Leichtfried met MEPs and experts from several member states on Wednesday 25 January to organise a fightback against German plans for road charging.
From the European Parliament, Leichtfried met a group of MEPs which has come together on the initiative of Pascal Arimont (EPP, Belgium) to oppose the German legislative proposal. On 16 February, during the next plenary session, the European Parliament will hold a discussion with Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc on the agreement reached with Berlin at the end of last year on a redrafted legislative text (see EUROPE 11680). MEPs are likely to adopt a resolution on this issue (see EUROPE 11685) in either February or March, according to a number of sources.
In addition, experts from eleven member states met the same day on the initiative of the Austrian minister to discuss German plans and to coordinate their response. A diplomatic source has said the experts present at the meeting will make a decision at their next meeting on how to proceed. This is expected to be after the text has been passed by the Bundestag, probably in March, in order to assess the content, we have been told. It is possible that the matter will be referred to the European Court of Justice, Austria says in a press release. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)