Car toll scandal: Taxpayers pay another 27 million euros!

Car toll scandal: Taxpayers pay another 27 million euros!

The toll disaster is keeping taxpayers on tenterhooks: The federal government is now paying an additional 27 million euros in compensation to the operators of the failed car toll. This sum is planned for in the 2025 federal budget and shows that the end of the toll project will not only have legal but also financial consequences. In total, the compensation that the federal government has to pay to the operators amounts to a whopping 270 million euros. The new 27 million euros are part of the Federal Ministry of Finance's submission for the upcoming adjustment meeting of the Bundestag's budget committee, as nordkurier.de reports.

But where do these high costs come from? According to an arbitration award, the 27 million euros result from further arbitration proceedings relating to the terminated contract for the “automatic control of the infrastructure levy”. In 2023, the federal government had to pay 243 million euros for the toll. These means of payment flowed after a long-term legal dispute, at the end of which the operators gained access to the funds due to the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) - a true tragedy for the state treasury.

The long way to the toll

The car toll was originally announced as a heart project of the CSU. Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer dreamed of a source of income that would relieve the burden on German drivers while foreign vehicle owners were asked to pay. The plan was to introduce the toll from October 2020, but the ECJ declared it unlawful in June 2019. According to the court, the toll violates EU law because it discriminates against foreign drivers. The decision came as a result of a lawsuit brought by Austria, supported by the Netherlands, against Germany, which received backing from Denmark. At this point it is clear that the legal hurdles not only stopped the dam of this financial burden, but increased it even further.[3]

After the ruling, the federal government terminated the contracts with the toll operators, including the Austrian Kapsch TrafficCom AG, and the operators then initially demanded over 560 million euros in damages. Scheuer rejected these claims, which culminated in arbitration. Ultimately, an agreement was reached on the said 243 million euros, which Transport Minister Volker Wissing described as “bitter” because there are no funds for other infrastructure measures.

The legal consequences for Scheuer

But the affair doesn't just have financial consequences. The former transport minister also has legal problems on his hands. Both he and former State Secretary Gerhard Schulz are facing charges of unsworn false statements in the toll investigation committee. The Berlin Regional Court must now decide whether the charges will be admitted. This makes it impressively clear: the issue of car tolls will keep German politics busy for some time to come, and it is foreseeable that we will read about the consequences often. Who would have thought that a project that was so big in the starting blocks could become such a disaster?

In summary, it should be noted that the failed car toll represents not only a legal burden, but also a major financial one for the federal government. With the additional payments, the last bill that has faded from an optimistic plan becomes visible. The echoes of this disaster will reverberate in CDU/CSU politics for years to come, and the costs appear to continue to rise.