Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has approved draft legislation to implement a toll on foreign motorists using German roads.
The toll, which will impact approximately 700 million foreigners who drive in Germany, is set to come into force at the start of 2016.
It is expected to raise about 500 million euros (R7.25 billion) in revenue each year for investment in roads, including the nation's vast freeway system - the Autobahn.
German drivers will be exempt from the toll, as the legislation offsets it with reductions in a road tax that car owners currently pay.
The imposition of the tax was one of the more controversial parts of the agreement reached last year between Merkel and the left-leaning Social Democrats to forge a new coalition government and has faced criticism from the European Union.
EU rules stipulate that national and foreign motorists should not be treated differently by EU governments, and some politicians have said that the legislation opens Germany to possible legal battles at the international level.
The law will now be debated by the German parliament, the Bundestag, where Merkel's Conservative-led coalition holds 504 of 631 seats.
“This will be a difficult process, as many open questions remain,” said Social Democrat parliamentarian Soeren Bartol.
But Horst Seehofer, leader of the Bavaria-only segment of Merkel's conservative party, rejected criticism of the plans. “All the objections that come in on a near-daily basis aren't intended to improve the law anymore, they're meant to throw sand in the gears,” he told dpa.
Sapa-dpa