If you want to travel through Germany you will have to pay a car toll from 2016 under new German Government plans. Foreign drivers would have to purchase a permit which will cost €10 (£7.90) for 10 days which would then be displayed on a windscreen.
There is also an option for drivers to buy a year-long permit for around €100 depending on emissions. German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said local drivers will also pay the toll but it will be offset by a tax cut elsewhere. Dobrindt expects the proposals to raise around €2.5 billion over four years.
Under this scheme, road users will be paying to use every road in Germany and not just highways. German roads are very popular with drivers across EU because of their delimited Autobahns.
The Germans have had a toll system in place for trucks for years, but it is one of a few European countries that don’t charge cars yet. Most of its neighbours, including France, Austria and Switzerland do have toll systems for private cars but unlike the German plans, don’t differentiate between foreigners and nationals.
It’s not clear that EU will support this new plan as it makes a distinction between foreign drivers and German drivers. A spokeswoman for EU’s transportation commissioner, Siim Kallas told a newspaper: “Changes to Germany’s existing car taxation scheme are a German responsibility. They should not be directly aimed at discriminating [against] foreign drivers.”
