The Munich low-emissions zone was expanded to include the Mittlerer Ring in February, and there was great excitement among some drivers and politicians. But no matter how pithy the announcements were, overtime is not yet required at the responsible court. But there is some work.
Munich (dpa / lby) - Within the first month after the extended driving ban for older diesel vehicles came into force in Munich, a dozen lawsuits against the tightening were filed with the administrative court of the state capital. A court spokesman for the German Press Agency said that eleven of the twelve lawsuits against the expansion of the environmental zone around the middle ring can be assigned to the environment of the "Mobile in Germany" association.
So the big wave of lawsuits seems to be missing at first. "Mobile in Germany" had called for legal action even before the tightened regulations were introduced. "This driving ban is disproportionate, antisocial and counterproductive," the association argued. According to him, 70,000 diesel owners are affected by the regulation in Munich alone, as well as numerous commuters and visitors. In contrast, the twelve lawsuits appear to be quite modest, which could also be due to far-reaching exceptions, for example for residents, delivery traffic, craftsmen with parking licenses or employees in shift or nursing service.
"The lawsuits were and will be sent to the state capital Munich with a request for a statement," the court spokesman described the next steps. Due to the early stage of the court proceedings - which are main proceedings, but not summary proceedings - no information can yet be given as to how to proceed, in particular the timing of a possible oral hearing in these matters.
The background to the whole dispute is the quality of the air in the state capital: In order to be able to comply with the limit values for nitrogen dioxide everywhere in the future, the busy Mittlerer Ring in Munich became part of the environmental zone on February 1 - previously it was only its outer border . Since then, diesel vehicles with the Euro 4 emissions standard have also been banned from entering the environmental zone, even if they have a green sticker. However, there are currently far-reaching exceptions.
If this first step is not enough to comply with the limit values, diesel engines of the Euro 5 standard will also have to stop in front of the Mittlerer Ring from October 1st, but the exceptions will continue to apply. If the limit values were still exceeded after that, the third and last stage would follow on April 1, 2024: Then the general exceptions for residents and delivery traffic would no longer apply. Taxis, craftsmen, shift workers and nursing services, for example, are still allowed to drive into the zone with a special permit.
