CSU prestige project
Car toll: Berlin is examining claims for recourse against Scheuer
The car toll was the prestige project of the then Transport Minister Andreas Schauer and his CSU. photo
© Lisa Ducret/dpa
The car toll pushed through by the CSU failed spectacularly – and cost the taxpayer a whopping 243 million euros. The federal government is now examining claims for recourse against ex-transport minister Scheuer.
The Federal Ministry of Transport is examining claims for recourse against the former Minister of Transport in the event that the car toll failed Andreas Scheuer (CSU). A spokesman for Scheuer’s successor in office, Volker Wissing (FDP), said on Friday in Berlin in response to a question. However, it is not yet clear whether recourse claims will be asserted against Scheuer.
In the dispute over damages for the bursting of the car toll, there was an agreement on Wednesday. According to this, the federal government will pay 243 million euros to the companies actually intended to operate the toll. Wissing spoke of a “bitter” sum. He called the car toll a serious mistake. He regrets that the amount of damages is not available for investments.
Prestige project of the CSU
The car toll – a prestige project of the CSU in the then federal government – was stopped in June 2019 by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as illegal – at that time Scheuer was Minister of Transport. The intended operators initially demanded 560 million euros in damages after the federal government terminated the contracts shortly after the verdict. Scheuer had rejected the company’s claims. Arbitration proceedings then followed
The Greens member of the Bundestag Anton Hofreiter attacked Scheuer. Hofreiter told the “Bild” newspaper: “I see Mr. Scheuer directly personally responsible for the failure of the car toll and thus also for the upcoming payments.” Scheuer must be held personally responsible for his role. “One would also have to discuss greater personal financial liability, also in general in similar cases.”