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Traffic jam on the A8 to Austria (archive image)
Photo:
Josef Reisner / DPA
Transport and logistics associations from all over Europe have asked EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to “finally take action against Austria” because of the obstacles to truck transport through Tyrol.
The accusation: Because Tyrol is making the time window for journeys over the Brenner ever smaller, traffic jams of up to 70 kilometers in length occur regularly in Bavaria. Drivers would have to endure ten hours without a toilet, residents would have to endure unreasonable loads, production stoppages in industrial companies due to interrupted supply chains, according to the letter from 13 associations.
As early as March, they had asked von der Leyen to initiate infringement proceedings against Austria. "This letter went unanswered, and since then the President of the EU Commission has been deaf to the demands of the transport industry," criticized the Federal Association of Freight Transport, Logistics and Waste Management (BGL). Due to block handling in Tyrol, there was a serious rear-end collision with a tanker last week, and the A8 motorway was closed in both directions for 24 hours.
According to BGL, 2.3 million trucks drove on the Brenner motorway in 2020.
To shift these transports to rail, 428 trains per day would be necessary instead of 30 today.
The new Brenner tunnel will not be ready until 2032 at the earliest, "the completion of the access routes on the German and Italian sides will probably take decades."
Therefore, as the guardian of the EU treaties, the EU Commission must now »stop Austria's illegal anti-transit measures«.
mic / dpa-afx
