Thirteen European road transport associations have called on the European Commission to take action against new transit bans on the Austrian Tauern motorway, which have been in force since the end of January.
Organisations from all over Europe, including Austria, stress that the number of unilateral transit restrictions introduced by the Austrian government has been steadily increasing for years. At the beginning of the year, a new ban appeared on another important trans-European route – this time on the A10 (Tauern motorway). Lorries travelling to Germany or Slovenia/Italy are banned on all Friday afternoons.
As vehicles used for domestic or local transport in Austria are exempted from the ban, the associations argue that this indirectly leads to a preference for Austrian vehicles. “Driving bans that only allow transport to and from Austria violate the principle of free movement of goods in the EU and discriminate in particular against non-Austrian hauliers.” – said Prof. Dr. Dirk Engelhardt, spokesman for the board of the German association BGL.
Source: trans.info