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A motorway in Kamen, Germany, about 300km northeast of Luxembourg, seen on 8 September 2015. Photo: Dirk Vorderstraße (CC BY 2.0) 

Germany finalised its new motorway toll law in the spring after four years of wrangling with neighbouring countries and the European Commission.

On 11 October, the Austrian transport minister, Jörg Leichtfried, said the plan was a form of “indirect discrimination on grounds of nationality”, which is contrary to EU law.

Under the new system, Germany will charge foreign drivers between €2.50 and €50 for short-term passes, valid between 10 days and 2 months, or between €67 and €130 for an annual pass, based on the vehicle’s environmental impact. Tolls will be collected electronically and number plates will be spot-checked.

German motorists will see their annual vehicle registration taxes reduced by the amount of the toll they pay. In other EU countries with highway tolls, all drivers pay the same rates regardless of where their car is registered.

Deutsche Welle reported on Thursday that a legal assessment conducted for the German Green party found “the bill was indeed discriminatory under EU law”.

The law takes effect in 2019.

Vienna said its case could last up to two years, but Austria’s action would not cause the German toll scheme to be suspended during that time.

At the time of writing, the German transport ministry had not returned Delano’s message seeking comment.

The case is number C-591/17.