The Minister of Transport of Germany, Andreas Scheuer, announced that the toll from passenger cars will be in force next year. The planned fee has been a source of controversy for a long time. Perhaps this will entail the introduction of fees also for delivery vans.
On Tuesday, Andreas Scheuer, the German transport minister (pictured) on the occasion of New Year’s wishes available on Twitter, has already announced the date of the introduction of charges for passenger cars. According to the plan, it will apply from October 2020.
Ich wünsche Ihnen ein glückliches Neues Jahr! 2019 beginnt mit einer guten Nachricht – die Pkw-Maut kann im Oktober 2020 starten. Der finanzielle und wirtschaftliche Rahmen, den der Bundestag vorgegeben hat, wird eingehalten. @BMVI pic.twitter.com/cLZsBFsr8x
— Andreas Scheuer (@AndiScheuer) 1 stycznia 2019
It means that we can create justice on German roads because everyone who uses our infrastructure pays – without additional burdens for residents,” said the minister.
Scheuer also announced the signing of a contract with the operator of new fees. The tender for system management was won by the German-Austrian consortium created by the German concert organizer and ticket seller CTS Eventim and the Austrian supplier of the Kapsch TrafficCom road toll system.
Controversy around fees
The fee is a „prestigious CSU project” from the election campaign in 2013 and is to be collected on federal roads and motorways, reports the German transport portal verkehrsrundschau.de. Germany’s former transport minister Alexander Dobrindt planned to implement it already in 2019, but in 2017 it was decided to postpone this deadline for 2020.
The delay was due to, inter alia, the complaint against the Germans submitted by Austria and the Netherlands to the European Commission. The Germans have constructed the regulations in such a way that the German drivers would not feel the payment at all, because the government will give them compensation in the form of a reduction in road taxes. The money they spent on tolls would come back to taxpayers through a different path. Therefore, the Austrians and the Dutch recognized the charges as discriminating against foreign drivers.
In the end, a compromise was reached between Brussels and Germany and the Commission withdrew its complaint from the EU’s Court of Justice.
What about delivery vans and vehicles above 3.5 t?
Since Minister Scheuer has announced a „fair” toll system, one would expect to introduce charges also for delivery vehicles and lorries over 3.5 t. The question of whether this will actually be the case remains unanswered. As you know, the Germans were already trying to extend the toll for trucks from 3.5 t to 7.5 t. In a bill extending the fees for all federal roads, they left the issue open and for examination. Ultimately, this group of cars was not covered by the toll.
Photo: Twitter.com/ArtDalvik