Germany, which took over the presidency of the European Union in early July, wants all motorways in Europe to be subject to charges. No exceptions.
Within eight years, almost all vehicles on motorways, including trucks, vans and cars, will have to pay a toll,” according to the proposed EU directive that Reuters has reached.
Buses and coaches would be exempt from the obligation.
For and even against
Reuters points out that the objective of making road tolls in Europe mandatory would be climate protection. And this is an argument which Germany often brings up during debates in the European Parliament.
It turns out, however, that the proposal, supported by the transport minister, Andreas Scheuer, has opponents even in his homeland. The Social Democrats among ministers of the federal states, who have been criticising the idea of introducing tolls for some time now, are to have serious doubts.
Photo: Wikimedia / Raimond Spekking CC BY-SA 4.0