Germany unveils plan to introduce car tolls

Germany's transportation minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has unveiled plans to introduce a toll on cars using the country's roads. However, it is not clear whether the proposal will meet with the approval of the EU. Germany has imposed a toll on trucks using its autobahns and other major thoroughfares since the start of 2005; the new toll would apply to all cars using all roads in Germany from the beginning of 2016 and could even extend to motorcycles. Dobrint said experts at the Transportation Ministry ha
August 11, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

Germany's transportation minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has unveiled plans to introduce a toll on cars using the country's roads. However, it is not clear whether the proposal will meet with the approval of the EU.

Germany has imposed a toll on trucks using its autobahns and other major thoroughfares since the start of 2005; the new toll would apply to all cars using all roads in Germany from the beginning of 2016 and could even extend to motorcycles. Dobrint said experts at the Transportation Ministry had calculated that the measure could generate about $815 million of extra revenue, to be invested in the maintenance and construction of Germany's roads.

The minister said that, if implemented, the new road toll would correct what he described as a ‘fairness gap’, an apparent reference to the fact that German drivers have to pay road tolls when driving in neighbouring countries such as Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Currently drivers from those countries have to pay no such toll in Germany.

He also said that for German drivers, the road toll would be revenue neutral, with people whose cars are registered in the country receiving a rebate on the tax that they already pay.

Dobrindt insisted that the proposal complied with European law and said that his ministry would work closely and in cooperation with EU officials to ensure that the actual bill being drafted would do the same. The 1690 European Commission has repeatedly warned Germany that any such toll must treat drivers from other EU countries equally. Dobrint said he had had a number of conversations about his plans with senior EU officials, including the transportation commissioner, Siim Kallas.

"Non-discrimination is a basic principle of EU law," a spokeswoman for Kallas said before Dobrindt had unveiled his plans. "We have to see the details," she said.

Austria has already announced that it would push the EU to stop Germany from implementing Dobrindt's plan. Austrian transportation minister Doris Bures said she would ‘use all legal means’ to prevent what she described as an act of discrimination against her country's drivers.

Urban Traffic Control Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Traffic monitoring and hard shoulder running
    March 1, 2013
    Hard shoulder running is on the increase – and the detection and monitoring of incidents on affected roads is occupying the minds of experts across Europe and the US
    Read More
  • Europe agrees on polluter-pays principle for truck tolls
    May 16, 2012
    EU Member States will in future have the right to apply the polluter-pays principle when setting road tolls on trucks and lorries. They will be able to levy charges for external costs and vary tariffs in order to ease congestion during peak hours and to encourage fleet renewal. Earmarking of revenues for transport infrastructure was the key point of an informal deal reached on Monday evening between Parliament and Council representatives on the revised Eurovignette directive.
    Read More
  • Demonstration of first German A9 motorway safety project
    November 10, 2015
    In the first project of the ‘digital A9 motorway test bed’ to show how vehicles on a motorway can share hazard information, Continental, Deutsche Telekom, Fraunhofer ESK and Nokia Networks have carried out a real-time demonstration of communication between vehicles via the Deutsche Telecom LTE cell network. The project, which aims to improve road safety and traffic management, involved upgrading Deutsche Telekom's existing LTE network at sections of the A9 motorway test bed with Nokia Networks’ mobile e
    Read More
  • Will the European Electronic Tolling System serve its purpose?
    February 3, 2012
    ASECAP's Kallistratos Dionelis asks whether, despite the best intentions at the policy level, the European Electronic Tolling System can ever hope to serve the customer in the way it is intended to. Reality doesn't just happen. In many ways, reality is created. We first create or produce a reality and then we consume it; this takes time and has a cost that needs to be covered.
    Read More

Highlighted Content