BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - As a result of the collapsed passenger car toll, the federal government must pay 243 million euros in damages to the intended operators. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) on Wednesday confirmed an agreement to this effect with the operator side, saying, "This is a bitter sum." He added that the whole process had been expensive and time-consuming. "In the end, the damage could be limited." But almost a quarter of a billion euros was a large sum, he said, especially in times of tight public coffers. Three months before the election in CSU-ruled Bavaria, harsh criticism of the actions of then-Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) came up again from the FDP and the Green Party.

(updated version)

The passenger car toll - a prestige project of the CSU in the then federal government - had been halted by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in June 2019 as illegal. The intended operators initially demanded 560 million euros in damages after the federal government cancelled the contracts shortly after the ruling. Scheuer rejected claims by the companies. Arbitration proceedings then followed. Wissing said the arbitration court had proposed termination via an arbitration award. The Bundestag's budget committee gave the go-ahead for this on Wednesday, he said.

The 243 million euros are to be paid to the company Autoticket

- the joint venture between toll specialist Kapsch and the

ticket provider Eventim was to be the operator of the passenger car toll. With the payment, "the mutual claims from the operator agreement would be settled and compared," Kapsch explained in a Borsen statement. The settlement agreement is expected to be finalized and take effect in the next few days, it said.

Wissing said with regard to the compensation payment due, the money had been hard-earned by the citizens. In addition, there would be legal fees. The damage had already occurred when the traffic light coalition took over the reins of government. Wissing called the passenger car toll a serious mistake. He said he regretted that the damages were not available for investment.

Green Party House Speaker Sven-Christian Kindler told the German Press Agency, "It would only be fair if the CSU offered to pay the big bill itself out of its party assets." In addition to the arbitration award, there would be costs for the introduction, external consultants, lawyers' fees and court costs. "With all that money, we could have built a lot of bike lanes, rehabilitated rail lines and supported public transit." FDP budget politician Karsten Klein told dpa that the then CSU election campaign hit was becoming "a funeral dirge for the German taxpayer." Scheuer and the CSU bear full responsibility for the financial damage.

The failure of the toll and the financial consequences were also the subject of a Bundestag committee of inquiry during the last legislative period. The opposition at the time accused Scheuer of violating budget and procurement laws and warned of costs in the millions. The then minister denied all the accusations. He was also targeted because he had already concluded the operator contracts at the end of 2018, even before the European Court of Justice had given final legal certainty.

From Autoticket, the operating company that was actually intended, it said, "We would have preferred a modified implementation of the passenger car toll as a climate levy for German and non-resident vehicle owners to a contentious dispute." Managing director Michael Blum said they nevertheless welcomed the end of the proceedings. As early as March 2022, the appointed arbitration court had confirmed that the ministry's termination of the contracts based on alleged "poor performance" had been unjustified./sam/hoe/DP/he