Germany wants blanket road tolls on ALL of Europe's motorways within eight years

So, the Germans want to put a toll on motorways. Not just on their own spacious autobahns, mind you. Nope. All across the European Union.

Germany, which took over the year-long presidency of the EU on July 1, has produced a draft report that makes it clear it wants to tax every car, van and truck on all motorways. Buses though, would still go toll-free.

Within eight years, according to the directive seen by Reuters on Wednesday, vehicles taking a spin down a European artery would be paying directly for the privilege – from Berlin to Benidorm, Amsterdam to Athens.

That's a lot of new toll booths, or maybe it would just be done by an app. Details are scant. And it is also not clear whether the money generated would go to EU coffers or the individual member states.

German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer wants German ministries to approve it immediately so it would become an official proposal. “As regards member states that have already established a charging system, tolls or user charges shall be levied upon all vehicles except coaches and buses,” the document says.

Though pitched as a measure to help fight global warming, some German officials from the Social Democrats, who share power with Angela Merkel's conservatives, aren't so keen as they're not fans of road tolls even on German roads.

Only trucks pay tolls on Germany's autobahns right now but there have been proposals in recent years for tolls on all autobahns and highways. Scheuer, though, had hoped that the levy would start in October this year.

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