The German government is considering the possibility of fining former Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer part of the compensation of more than a quarter of a billion euros that it must pay to a private company, due to a failed scheme to impose highway tolls.
Scheuer, who held office from 2018-2021, insisted on imposing the fee despite warnings from experts that it would be unfair to drivers of other EU countries.
An EU court ruled the fees illegal in 2019, setting in motion a lengthy arbitration process with the company contracted to create the fee system that ended in a $267 million settlement last week.
The current transport minister, Volker Wessing, told German weekly Bild am Sonntag that taxpayers should not bear all the costs of “this grave political mistake”.
“We will look closely at the legal situation and carefully examine whether and to what extent claims for compensation (against Scheuer) are possible,” he was quoted as saying.
Scheuer is a member of the only conservative Christian Social Union party in Bavaria, and one of the leading opposition factions in the German federal parliament.
