Germany Plans Toll For Foreign Drivers

The German government has agreed to establish a toll for driving on the country’s highways. The catch is that it will apply to everyone but, of course, Germans.

For people living in surrounding countries, that means paying a toll to drive on the high-speed autobahn among other roads. Germany is searching for ways to fund repairs to its aging infrastructure, but the plan has neighboring countries up in arms. Austria’s transport minister is threatening to sue Germany in the European Court of Justice. The tolls would raise an estimated 260 million Euros

Other European countries charge tolls and Germany is arguing that its citizens pay to drive in other countries. Meanwhile, Germany is left paying to maintain roads used by non-residents that aren’t contributing to their upkeep.

It isn’t clear how Germany would go about enforcing the new structure, but compulsory windshield stickers could serve as permits. Citizens could be issued the stickers while foreigners would be charged a fee.

[Source: Bloomberg]