Transport minister cancels clean mobility commission meeting following speed limit controversy

German transport minister Andreas Scheuer has cancelled a working group meeting of the government-appointed clean mobility commission after a proposal that would impose speed limits on the country’s famous Autobahn highway system had sparked an outcry, reports Kerstin Schwenn in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The transport ministry (BMVI) explains the cancellation of the meeting, scheduled for today (23 January), with the need for “coordination of the work of all [six] working groups.”
An internal working paper drafted by the task force responsible for coming up with proposals to cut emissions from Germany’s transport sector had stirred public controversy. Scheuer, whose own ministry had appointed the commission, swiftly dismissed its proposals for a motorway speed limit and fuel tax hikes. Germany has been struggling for years to clean up its transport sector, so the government has launched this commission, which is expected to present its proposals by the end of March.