Netherlands joins Austrian ECJ challenge against "discriminatory" German toll system

BERLIN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch government announced Wednesday that it would join forces with Austria in an attempt to legally overturn a controversial overhaul of Germany's road toll system.

Dutch Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen argued Germany's plans would breach European Union (EU) rules by discriminating against Dutch motorists and disrupting the flow of traffic.

According to calculations by van Nieuwenhuizen's ministry, Dutch drivers face additional costs of up to 100 million euros (118 million U.S. dollars) per year as a consequence of the German legislative initiative. Although the toll would be charged to all motorists on roads throughout Germany, German drivers would be able to reclaim the expenses in their tax filings.

Foreign drivers from neighboring countries who frequently use German roads would hence be hardest-hit. This has led the Austrian government to launch a lawsuit against the measure at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Vienna believes the law constitutes an illicit discrimination of EU citizens on the grounds of their nationality.

"We will not tolerate that Germans do not pay, because they are Germans, while Austrian and Dutch nationals are charged," Austrian Transport Minister Joerg Leichtfried told press.

Leichtfried said he wanted to "protect Austrians against this injustice" and hoped to receive a verdict from the ECJ by the end of 2018.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had originally vowed to oppose the toll while running for office in 2013, but eventually gave in to pressure from the Christian Social Union (CSU) on the issue in 2015. Although the legislation was formally passed by the last grand coalition in the German Federal Parliament, it was never enacted due to concerns voiced by the European Commission.

Following minor changes by Berlin, the toll recently secured EU approval and is now officially scheduled to be in force by 2019. Even if the law survives the Dutch and Austrian legal challenge, whether or not it actually comes to pass will also hinge on the outcome of ongoing coalition negotiations between the German Social Democrats (SPD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the CSU.

The SPD is skeptical of the proposed measure, while the CDU and CSU are keen to preserve it. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens (Gruene) are both vehemently opposed. Enditem