European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc told Reuters on Friday that a harmonized Europe-wide road toll could be a way of resolving a current stand-off between Brussels and Berlin, with the German government planning to install a road toll system in 2016 that the EU executive deems illegal.

Berlin's plans are aimed at foreign drivers using Germany's autobahn motorways. German drivers would also have to pay the toll, but would simultaneously be compensated with a reduction in existing automobile taxes.

The European Commission has said it fears the German scheme discriminates against non-German EU citizens.

Fairness a priority

Bulc said the issue Germany was trying to assess was one facing Europe as a whole. "That's why we started thinking about a universal European toll system that could address especially the needs of small-travel users throughout Europe," the commissioner argued.

She made it clear, though, that such a scheme could initially be voluntary, with member states able to decide whether to opt in.

The toll system would be based on distance traveled instead of time traveled, and all revenues would go back to member states, ideally for spending on infrastructure projects, Bulc explained.

Bulc met with German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt in Berlin earlier this week, but it was unclear whether the two discussed the prospect of an EU-wide road toll.

hg/bk (Reuters, dpa)