Charges have been brought against former Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) for unsworn false testimony in connection with the failed motorway toll.
As the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Wednesday, it is about a statement by Scheuer before the Bundestag's committee of inquiry into car tolls.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the former parliamentary state secretary Gerhard Schulz is also accused.
What is the previous Transport Minister accused of?
Scheuer's name is closely linked to a toll collection project on the Autobahn that was ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice in 2019.
The toll had been pushed by the Christian Social Union (CSU) as a "foreigner toll", because in effect only foreign motorists should pay it - owners of cars registered in Germany would see their tolls refunded through a reduction in their motor vehicle tax.
Following the failure of the project, Scheuer had terminated the contracts with the toll company Autoticket, but rejected the company's claims for compensation. To clarify this, the Ministry of Transport called on an arbitration court in 2020, which ruled that the federal government should pay €243 million to the operating company of the car toll.
The statements in question before the committee are about whether contracts with the toll company had been signed, despite the risk that the project would be stopped by the European Court of Justice.
According to the indictment, Scheuer and Schulz had made deliberately false statements "contrary to their actual memory" during previous inquiries.
The two accused deny the accusation. As in courts, false testimony before committees of inquiry of legislative bodies of the federal and state governments is also punishable.
Scheuer was a member of the German Bundestag from 2002 until 2024, and he was the Federal Transport Minister from2018 to 2021.
Scheuer told the Bild newspaper that he would "defend himself against this unfounded accusation..."
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With reporting by AFP.
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