Germans now pay

Italy ends grace period for German speeders

The Ministry of Transport in Rome is complaining about difficult cooperation with Vienna - things are now apparently working better with Germany.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

The grace period for German traffic offenders on vacation in Italy is over: After months of dispute between the two countries, German drivers now have to expect speeding tickets from Italy again, the German news agency dpa reported on Tuesday. In the same breath, however, Rome is complaining about the difficult cooperation with Vienna.

As Italy's Ministry of Transport confirmed on Tuesday, both sides agreed on the further exchange of owner and vehicle data. Fines have not yet been imposed on Austrian drivers.

According to the Ministry of Transport in Rome, Italy is now once again fully involved in a system that regulates the exchange of vehicle and owner data within the EU.

Problem with Austria not yet resolved
After Italy had repeatedly retrieved data for other offenses as well, the German Federal Motor Transport Authority had not passed on any information for more than a year. The problem with Austria has not yet been resolved, according to the Italian Ministry of Transport, which complained of "difficulties in cooperation" with Vienna.

The EUCARIS system (European Car and Driving License Information System) gives the authorities direct access to the corresponding registers of the other EU states. The data exchange is based on reciprocity - data is only exchanged with those states that have implemented the directive.

A lot of money is at stake
In Merano in South Tyrol alone, a good 4,000 traffic fines worth 230,000 euros could not be sent to German, Austrian and, most recently, Dutch drivers because these three EU states are blocking access to the data. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini dealt with the case. He emphasized that the problems with the Netherlands should be resolved soon.