Tomorrow a summit will be held in Kufstein between the governor of Tyrol Anton Mattle, the prime minister of Bavaria Markus Söder and the governor of South Tyrol Arno Kompatscher to present and sign a declaration of intent on a digital management system of the traffic along the Brenner corridor.
The President of ANITA – Thomas Baumgartner, intervenes on the merits of this declaration and expresses his analysis as follows: “The traffic management system regulated through the obligatory reservation of the transits of heavy vehicles on the Brenner are preparing to support jointly, is contrary to the principle of free movement, one of the pillars on which the European Union is founded, as well as being impossible to implement both from a practical and an operational point of view.”
The doubts about the legal strength of such a system are indirectly confirmed by the content of the same declaration of intent, where the need for an intergovernmental agreement for the ratification of the project by the respective national governments, as well as by the European Commission, is expressly referred to, to offer a legal basis for the joint implementation of a digital traffic regulation system. The question of legal groundlessness is also raised by Peter Hilpold, professor of international and European law at the University of Innsbruck, according to whom compliance with European Union law knows no alternative. “With the introduction of a compulsory booking system for transits, at this moment there is the risk of starting from the roof and not from the foundations. In a system governed by the principle of the rule of law, such as that of the European Union, an opaque situation is created and a precedent that is not only dangerous but also costly for all the States and territories involved”.
Baumgartner continues his analysis, arguing: “The 2019 Berlin 10-point plan, referred to in the premises of the declaration of intent, already envisaged close collaboration between Austria and Germany for the creation of an intelligent remote control system for heavy vehicles four years has never materialised, demonstrating the complexity of the project, which we intend to propose again”.
Considering that the declaration focuses on the sustainable management of traffic in the Brenner corridor, before thinking about the introduction of digital traffic management systems, a priority commitment would be appropriate for the construction of the works necessary to upgrade the railway track in the area Bavarian towards the Brenner base tunnel, on the side of which there are worrying delays.
The number one of ANITA concludes his personal point, stating: “We continue to be convinced that the only solution to smooth traffic and reduce congestion along the Brenner still remains to eliminate traffic bans and night tolls for heavy vehicles “.
