BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday her transport minister would look at how to proceed after the EU’s top court rejected plans to introduce a German highway toll.
Germany’s transport minister Andreas Scheuer said the ruling implied the toll in its current form was off the table, but he had already put in place a task force to find alternative solutions.
The European Court of Justice earlier on Tuesday backed a challenge from Austria, which said Berlin’s plan to put the economic burden of the toll on drivers from EU countries while giving German car owners a tax relief over the same amount, was discrimination.
The ruling is a blow to Scheuer’s Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU), which had been the main backer of the toll.
Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Writing by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Michelle Martin
