ITALY BRINGS AUSTRIA TO COURT OVER BRENNER TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS
This week, the Italian government approved the request of the Ministry of Transport to launch a formal procedure to the Court of Justice of the European Union against Austria on the traffic restrictions along the Brenner corridor.
Over the last decade, the Tyrol region in Austria imposed quantitative restrictions on goods transport by road in the Brenner region (sectoral traffic bans, driving bans at certain times and days) and has strongly encouraged a modal shift from road to rail. Despite considerable efforts to increase the supply of rail freight and combined transport capacity, these efforts have proven insufficient to alleviate the challenges created by the multiple driving restrictions, hampering the free movement of goods along a key European corridor.
It will therefore be up to the Court of Justice to determine whether Austria's prohibitions on heavy goods traffic are lawful or whether the principle of the free movement of goods and persons enshrined in the Treaties should prevail.
CLECAT welcomes the Italian government’s confirmation of its intention to take Austria to court in a new attempt to try to unblock the Brenner impasse.