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In the matter of the car toll, three important witnesses contradict the statements of the Minister of Transport in the Bundestag. His former secretary of state takes him under protection. He himself says he does not remember.
Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) has rejected the central accusations when investigating the toll of vehicles by explosion. Scheuer said Friday night as a witness in the investigation committee that in a November 2018 meeting with managers of the subsequently planned operating companies, he recalled that there was no offer to postpone the signing of the contract until the ECJ ruling. There was no reason to talk about postponing the signing date when it was not even foreseeable if an agreement could be reached. His statement was supported by former Secretary of State Gerhard Schulz.
Schuleberg: there was an offer
Previously, three representatives of the toll operators had stated that the offer had been made to Scheuer. However, he rejected the proposal. The operators pointed out to Scheuer the “risks of a negative judgment” by the ECJ. However, Scheuer made clear that the ministry had several reports stating that the toll was “unanimous and crystal clear” in accordance with European law.
Scheuer said the start of the car toll “in election year 2021 would be completely unacceptable.” Rather, the minister had demanded that the toll start in 2020. “He steadfastly refused to wait for the ECJ to sign the contract,” said CTS Eventim chief Klaus-Peter Schulenberg.
The CEO of the Austrian operating company Kapsch TrafficCom, Georg Kapsch, confirmed these descriptions. The meeting with Scheuer in November 2018 was primarily about the high price of the operator’s toll offer. Schuleberg said Scheuer “made the offer, if we need time, then we can wait for the CJEU ruling. The minister refused.”
Schuleberg: Scheuer refused
In the morning, the managing director of Autoticket, Volker Schneble, had already told the inquiry committee that such an offer had been made. Schneble had last written this in a memory register that was released last week. However, he himself was not present at the meeting in question with the minister, but claims to have met him in 2018 through Schulenberg, among others. The testimony before the investigation committee now has a different quality: because the witnesses there are obliged to tell the truth, otherwise they risk being prosecuted.
Scheuer had said in the Bundestag last year that there had been no offer for operators to sign the contracts at a later date. Therefore, the opposition accuses him of lying to parliament and demands his resignation. Even the chair of the investigation committee, Udo Schiefner (SPD), had told t-online about the accusation of lying against Scheuer before the committee meeting: “If you cannot refute the accusation, it will place a heavy burden on your position. “.
In addition to Schulenberg and Scheuer, the head of the company, Georg Kapsch, and the then Secretary of State for Transport, Gerhard Schulz, also participated in the meeting in question in November 2018. Schulz and Scheuer should also be heard in the committee of investigation Thursday. The minister’s questioning is scheduled last and could last well into the night.
Together with the Austrian company Kapsch, CTS Event was awarded the contract to collect and monitor the car toll at the end of 2018. The ECJ had lifted the toll for German cars in June 2019 as it discriminates against foreign drivers. However, the contracts with the operating companies of the prestigious CSU project had already been signed at the end of 2018.
