Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini (Lega) put pressure on Tyrolean anti-transit measures again on Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference in Rome, he called for a relaxation of lorry driving bans by June and again pushed for EU infringement procedures. He complained that Austria was not complying with European laws.
“If the European rules apply to everyone, they also apply to the Brenner Pass. There is free movement of goods and people in Europe. There should be no transit bans that have been adopted without any consultation and that hinder the free movement across the continent. This is not just an Italian or German problem, but a problem for the whole European continent,” Salvini, head of the right-wing governing party Lega and Italy’s deputy prime minister, lamented.
‘Austria prevents free movement’
It is incomprehensible “why one country of the 27 EU Member States has been preventing the free movement of goods and people for years. We are ready to discuss slots for trucks, but the Austrian government must lift the transit bans,” explains Salvini.
“It is as if we Italians have decided that you are not allowed to drive on Saturdays and Sundays at the Italian-French border crossing Ventimiglia or in Trieste on the border with Slovenia. I think in that case Europe would intervene within 15 minutes,” Salvini said.
Insist on EU infringement procedures
EU infringement procedures can only be initiated by the European Commission. It includes several stages and may eventually lead to a lawsuit before the European Court of Justice. Salvini had repeatedly asked the European Commission to launch such infringement procedures.
Source: Krone
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