‘Foreigner toll’ makes waves in German election squabble

EurActiv ^ | 13 August 2013

[Olog-hai]

A political proposal to impose road tolls on foreign car drivers has become a feature of the German election campaign, but the European Commission made clear yesterday (12 August) that it would not accept any measure which amounts to discrimination on the ground of nationality. EurActiv Germany contributed to this article.

Horst Seehofer, head of the Christian-Social Union (CSU) which is the Bavarian sister party of (Angela) Merkel’s CDU, has been requesting for many years that road tolls be introduced for foreign car drivers, using German, or at least Bavarian roads. Over the weekend he renewed his request, adding that without such road tolls for foreigners he would refuse to sign a coalition agreement with Merkel after the election. …

It follows that if Germany was to introduce a road toll, the measure would also need to apply to German car drivers. But so far Merkel has rejected the idea of road tolls in Germany as well as the introduction of a general speed limit on highways, in an apparent bow to the mighty automobile industry. …

[CaptainAmiigaf]

This article is confusing. Does the toll apply to-—
A. German driver of FOREIGN made cars (or)
B. Foreign drivers of FOREIGN made cars (or)
C. Foreign drivers of GERMAN made cars
My first thought was the toll was aimed at reducing the import of foreign made autos, increasing the use of home-grown vehicles.
Also wouldn’t toll booths checking passports really screw up traffic flow?

[FreedomOfExpression]

It is a toll on foreigners driving on German roads.
The second and third paragraphs after the one in bold help clarify it a bit.
It is a political move based on Germans returning from vacation in other countries, angry about having to pay usage fees or tolls as foreigners, while Germany does not charge those tolls to drivers from other countries.

[Charles Martel]

Also wouldn’t toll booths checking passports really screw up traffic flow?

Some sort of pre-paid windshield toll sticker could be displayed on cars with non-German license plates. A flat rate, paid at entry into Germany, seems more feasible than an electronic toll collection system.

If they already had an extensive toll road system, it wouldn't be that big a problem to modify it - for example, Brits can buy tolltags that work on French toll roads.