Failed “foreigner toll”: Did Scheuer lie when clarifying the toll debacle?

Now his failed “foreigner toll” is catching up with him again: Former Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) has to answer before the Berlin regional court from Monday. Twelve days of negotiations have been planned so far.

The Berlin public prosecutor's office accuses the former politician of giving false testimony in the Bundestag's toll investigation committee on October 1, 2020. At the request of the then opposition factions FDP, Left and Greens, the committee was supposed to clarify whether Scheuer made mistakes in the planned introduction of a car toll.

The car toll was a CSU project. She wanted to eliminate the perceived injustice that German drivers have to pay tolls abroad while foreign drivers drive for free in Germany.

The coalition between the Union and the SPD passed a federal law in 2015, according to which a car toll would be introduced for all drivers in Germany, but all drivers registered in Germany would receive financial compensation for vehicle tax. This car toll was stopped by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2019 following a lawsuit from Austria because it would have unilaterally burdened foreigners.

It was known that there were legal risks. But Scheuer wanted to introduce the “foreigner toll” in 2020, in time for the next state election in Bavaria. He therefore pushed for a contract to be concluded with a consortium of companies to implement the levy – even before the ECJ decision. In the end, the Federal Republic had to pay the potential operators of the toll system 243 million euros in compensation.

But the Berlin I Regional Court is not about wasting money and financial infidelity; There is no penalty for making bad political decisions. It's all about Scheuer's testimony in the investigative committee about the case.

Specifically, it is about Scheuer's statement about an informal meeting between him and his then State Secretary Gerhard Schulz (independent) with the potential operators of the toll system. At the meeting on November 29, 2018, they are said to have offered to wait until the ECJ ruling before concluding the contract.

When questioned in the Bundestag in September 2019, Scheuer flatly denied that such an offer existed from the operators. A year later, Scheuer expressed more caution in the investigative committee and added the important words “according to my recollection”.

However, the public prosecutor's office assumes that Scheuer testified incorrectly about his memory, meaning that he definitely remembered the offer and the rejection. According to the public prosecutor's office, it was a false statement about an "internal fact".

The prosecution, which is not yet public, will probably have to argue in two steps. On the one hand, she has to prove that the offer existed, which is quite demanding since the conversation was not recorded. However, those involved on the operator side subsequently told several employees and business partners about their offer and Scheuer's rejection.

The second step is probably about Scheuer's memory at the time of his statement in the investigative committee. When asked, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said that "the overall picture of the evidence and a corresponding credibility assessment" suggested that Scheuer had made a false statement. The indictment consists of 171 pages.

The public prosecutor filed the charges in August 2025. In May 2026, the Berlin I Regional Court approved the charges. That is, it considers a conviction to be more likely than an acquittal. In addition to Scheuer, former State Secretary Schulz, who made a similar statement, is also accused.

According to the Criminal Code, false statements before an investigative committee can be punished in the same way as false statements in court (Section 162). Scheuer therefore faces a prison sentence of three months to five years - which would probably be suspended for a first-time offender like him.