BERLIN: A German plan to introduce a motorway toll next year aimed at foreign drivers would violate European Union laws, in the view of an EU Commission panel, a German magazine reported on Friday.
The EU experts' analysis found that the toll would discriminate against foreign drivers because German motorists would be compensated with a reduction in car taxes.
"It is clearly a contradiction to offer relief to all domestic motorists by exactly the same amount as would be raised by the toll and then claim that there is no link between the two laws," Der Spiegel magazine quoted the expert report as saying. A spokesman for the EU Commission, which has already expressed reservations about the plan, declined to comment on the experts' report, saying: "We will assess the law once it has been adopted.
There must be no discrimination on grounds of nationality; all drivers, German and foreign, must be treated equally." The German Transport Ministry did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the toll, which has generally received a bad press in Germany. Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, in whose home state of Bavaria the idea is popular, has said he is convinced that his law does not discriminate against foreign motorists and would stand if challenged in court.
He expects annual revenues of 3.7 billion euros ($4.1 billion), of which around 3 billion will come from domestic drivers. Der Spiegel also said the toll would violate another EU rule because the proposed 20-euro fee for a 10-day pass would be too high in relation to the 130 euro annual fee.
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