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From 2019 onwards, it will cost between €2.50 and €25 to drive on the Autobahn for 10 days.Photo: Martina Roell 

Depending on the type of car (size and environmental standards), non-residents will have to pay a motorway toll between €2.50 and €25 for using the German Autobahn for a period of 10 days. For a period of 2 months, the toll will be between €7 and €50. The number plates will be registered and serve as proof that the toll has been paid.

The German Bundesrat, the country’s upper house of parliament, gave its approval for the “PkW Maut” law on 31 March. The proposal was originally an idea put forward by the Bavarian CSU. After years of conflict, a compromise between the German government and the European Commission was hashed out in December 2016. It lowered the amount of the toll to get EU approval. Every road user must pay this tax, but only German car drivers will get a tax reduction which covers the totality of the toll.

However, the day after the Bundesrat approved the law, the Austrian transport minister Leichtfried announced he will file a case against this law with the European Court of Justice, based in Kirchberg, on Tuesday 4 April:

“I think this toll is discriminatory and not compatible with EU law”.

Formally, he can only submit his complaint when the EU commission has closed its procedure against Germany on violating EU law. 

But the motorway toll is decried equally in Belgium and within Germany.

Werner Schreiner, the representative of the Rhineland-Palatinate in the Greater Region, said that the motorway toll “would act like a barrier for our French, Luxembourgish and Belgian neighbours” in an interview with Paperjam in February.

Stephan Toscani, the representative of the Saarland in the Greater Region, told Paperjam that “the introduction of a motorway toll imposes a new border in the life.”

Before the meeting of the Bundesrat, some German states (Länder) had asked for select parts of the motorways around the border regions to be toll free, but the federal government rejected this.

You can find the original article (in French) here.