Bouchons: Should the Gothards pay for foreigners pay more?

Each year, the subject returns to the table to parliament. The queues in front of the Saint-Gothard tunnel are still as long and disturb the lives of residents and regions concerned, Uri and Ticino in particular. Several motions have been deposited which require that in the future, foreign tourists pay a transit tax, which could somewhat reduce the pressure on traffic.

National Councilor Simon Stadler (C/UR) has deposited one. He explains this Sunday on the SRF that motorists who borrow the Swiss motorway connecting Weil Am Rhein (Germany) in Como (Italy) should be automatically controlled by cameras and billed.

The prices would be “dynamic” depending on the periods. They would be “higher on the day of the ascent, at Pentecost or at the start of the summer holidays, and lower in the week, for example, when there are no traffic jams. (…) We are trying to streamline traffic during rush hours, ”specifies the elected Uranais.

A similar motion was filed by other groups in Parliament. But, as at the Porrentruy swimming pool, this tax, which is targeting foreign vehicles, not discriminatory? Simon Stadler responds from TAC to TAC: “Currently, it is the Uranais who are discriminated against, because they can no longer go to work or go home. »»

The validity of this tax striking foreigners must above all be examined from the angle of respect for the agreement on transport between Switzerland and the EU. If Switzerland taxes more foreign cars, it is exposed to the Swiss motorists are struck by a surcharge in the countries concerned. For Ticino national councilor Bruno Storny (PS/TI): “The Federal Council must still negotiate the entire file with the EU. Then he will be subject to parliament ”. This means that this specific question is far from being decided in a more general context.