Transit dispute – Salvini announces a quick trip to the Court of Justice of the EU

“At this time we rely on the justice of the Court of Justice of the EU. Our government will put an end to this disgrace,” Salvini emphasized during a question time in parliament and further said: “After four years of inaction by the European Commission, this government has decided to activate the procedure provided for in the EU Treaty to to bring legal action against another state for violation of EU law before the European Court of Justice. This is a powerful but necessary initiative. My ministry and the government are preparing the file.” Just last week, Salvini threatened to go to the Court of Justice and announced that the file would be developed.

Under Article 259, any EU member state can appeal to the Court of Justice if it believes that another member has violated an obligation under the treaties, Salvini stressed last week. However, before a Member State takes legal action against another State for an alleged breach of its obligations under the Treaties, the matter must be referred to the European Commission. The European Commission issues a reasoned opinion and gives the states concerned the opportunity to make written and oral statements in an adversarial procedure. If the Commission does not deliver an opinion within three months of the date on which such a request was submitted, an appeal may be lodged with the Court of Justice, regardless of the absence of an opinion.

“This is not about the environment”
“We are confronted with an act of violence and political arrogance on the part of the government of an EU Member State that we must put an end to. The restrictions were introduced by Austria for reasons of environmental protection, but this is not about the environment,” Salvini muttered again on Wednesday. This is simply about unfair Austrian competition against entrepreneurs and forwarders from Italy, Germany and the entire European continent.

Italian freight associations ANITA and Conftrasporto welcomed Salvini’s words. “Now we hope that the European Court of Justice will finally provide clarity on the sensitive transit issue. We expressly thank Minister Salvini for his work and for making all the necessary efforts to address such an important issue for companies in the sector,” said a press release from the association ANITA.

Salvini also again criticized the Austrian federal government’s plans to introduce extraordinary controls at its borders with Schengen partner Italy due to the refugee situation. Salvini therefore wants to travel to Brenner in October. “This will be an opportunity to examine the situation after Vienna announced its intention to tighten border controls. “Italy should not be disadvantaged by other EU countries: without a return to loyal cooperation, Salvini wants to propose tightening border controls for Austrian vehicles,” said a statement from the transport ministry in Rome.

The Tyrolean police announced tightened controls
Last weekend, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) considered or promised extraordinary controls at the borders with Schengen partner Italy due to the situation in Lampedusa. Tyrolean state police director Helmut Tomac announced, among other things, tightened controls in the hinterland. In any case, random checks are carried out on the highway and checks on trains. However, you notice that the current route does not take you over the Brenner. The fears of people who entered the country illegally in Tyrol have increased “marginally”, “but not noticeably”, Tomac said.

German counterparts on board
When it comes to transit, European Commission President Von der Leyen recently attempted to offer “a final mediation meeting” in the ongoing conflict. The underlying problem can only be solved ‘together’ with the three countries involved, Austria, Germany and Italy, the Commission president said. The transit conflict has become increasingly serious in recent months. Salvini in particular is constantly agitating with threatening gestures and violent criticism of Tyrolean anti-transit measures, such as sectoral driving bans, night driving bans and the like. The Italian Minister of Transport has even officially called on the European Commission to initiate infringement proceedings against Austria. He had his German counterpart Volker Wissing (FDP) on board when it came to criticism of driving bans and transit restriction measures.

The ‘lock system’ is still a long way off
At the regional level, however, there was agreement on the transit front. The state leaders of Bavaria, Tyrol and South Tyrol – Markus Söder (CSU), Anton Mattle (ÖVP) and Arno Kompatscher (SVP) – publicly presented a “lock system” in Kufstein in April. For such digital, cross-border traffic management, an international treaty would have to be concluded between Austria, Germany and Italy. Something like that is still far away. Salvini has been strictly negative so far: he only wants to talk about it once the transit restriction measures and the driving ban have been lifted. Germany also reacted very cautiously. Meanwhile, the Tyrolean state government, consisting of the ÖVP and SPÖ, always emphasized that it wanted to adhere to the measures as long as there was no major European solution that would put an end to excessive transit traffic.