The plans of the German Government to introduce a motorway toll have been met with massive criticism from Austria and other EU States from the very beginning. Put in practice, this toll should exclusively apply to drivers from abroad as German vehicle owners should see their vehicle tax reduced by the same amount. Initially, also the Commission regarded these plans as a violation of EU law and consequently induced infringement proceedings against Germany last summer. In response, Germany suspended the introduction of the toll for the time being.

All the more surprising, the Commission announced on 1 December 2016 that an agreement had been reached following intensive negotiations between Commission and Government. From the Commission's point of view any doubts concerning EU-law-conformity had been removed and hence also the infringement proceedings had been suspended for the time being.

On Wednesday, Commissioner Violeta Bulc defended her position before the European Parliament. She justified the new position by explaining that Germany had submitted revised plans for the concrete tariff rates for short term vignettes in order not to unduly burden foreign vehicle owners. According to these plans, the 10-day vignette and the two-month vignette are graduated in five categories related to the emission level of the vehicle. The 10-day vignette for cars of the lowest emission class is already available for 2.50 Euro, instead of according to previous plans for about 5 Euro. The two-month vignette for these vehicles shall cost 7 Euro, compared to 16 Euro proposed in the initial draft of 2015.

Apart from that, Commissioner Bulc pointed out that the greater spread of the toll rates, dependent on the emission class, would be a stronger incentive to drive environmentally friendly cars. Doing so, would take the target of the Commission to promote low-emission mobility into accoutn. At the same time, she said that the revised toll plans had not yet been adopted by the German Bundestag; hence, the resumption of the infringement proceedings against Germany is thus possible.

Whether these amendments mean that Germany is indeed acting legally, must ultimately be decided by the European Court of Justice. The Austrian Transport Minister Jörg Leichtfried has already announced his intention to initiate, in agreement with other Member States, infringement proceedings against Germany, if the Commission would fail to take further action.

Apart from the legal clarification whether or not the German motorway toll is violates EU law, Germany still has no adequate answer with regards to the economic viability of the plans. In view of the planned tariff rates and the great technical and bureaucratic expenditure regarding this toll package it is by no means certain that the German State will generate any additional income at all. A study by the ADAC from January 2017 calculated that Germany would incur additional annual costs of up to 251 million Euros.

Further information:

The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure BMVI: Information on the Infrastructure Charging Bill

ADAC: Expert opinion on the planned car toll