After the announcement of further talks by Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) with toll companies, the chairman of the Green Party in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, called for his resignation. "If Mr. Scheuer does not resign, I expect the Chancellor to dismiss him," said Hofreiter of the "Passauer Neue Presse".
Hofreiter criticized the fact that Scheuer did not have his ministry "under control" and did not inform the Bundestag truthfully and comprehensively. Scrub back "with the truth only piecemeal out," said Hofreiter the newspaper. The Minister of Transport had "wasted taxpayers' money and in clearing up the car toll only what he could no longer deny."
The SPIEGEL had reported in September first two secret meetings with the operators Eventim and Kapsch (read more here.) The Federal Ministry of Transport recently acknowledged a request from the Greens that there had been additional talks of the Ministry top with representatives of the toll companies.
AFP / Odd ANDERSEN
Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer promised after the toll debacle "perfect transparency"
The occasion was a deadline of the Greens, which call for clarification and a committee of inquiry in the toll-affair. About the additional meetings had first reported the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
According to Secretary of State Steffen Bilger's letter to Green Party politicians Stephan Kühn and Sven-Christian Kindler, the unprecedented high-profile meetings took place between 3 October 2018 and 23 May 2019. The document from which the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" cites is available to SPIEGEL. After the secret talks became known, several Greens MPs demanded Scheuer's resignation.
