On behalf of the Deutscher Eisenbahn-Freunde e.V. (German Friends of the Railway Society), on an amendment to the law on turnover tax for different modes of transport in tourist traffic 

The petitioner proposes the application of different rates of tax for travel by aeroplane, coach and train within the EU, on the basis of Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax. Rail transport provision could be taxed at a lower rate by Member States, and be exempted from turnover tax by the end of 2029. One of the reasons given by the petitioner is that rail travel is the only mode of transport that has over 100 years of experience with electro mobility. He claims that green electricity already represents a large proportion of the electricity used today. Furthermore, the specific energy used per person travelling by rail is low, due to the number of seats in each carriage. The petitioner highlights though that investment in rail travel is very low in some Member States, due to the high infrastructure costs.