Both activists and the judiciary have claimed the Bavarian government is flagrantly ignoring a 2014 Munich court decision demanding a plan of action to include a city ban for diesel-fuelled vehicles. Thursday's ECJ opinion, though not legally binding, could have implications for leading politicians in the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democrats. The ECJ said any jail sentence would require "a national legal basis which is sufficiently accessible, precise and foreseeable in its application". The Bavarian higher administrative court referred the case to the ECJ in November 2018, saying that "high-ranking political figures (had) made it clear, both publicly and to the court, that they would not fulfil theirresponsibilities." Saying a €4,000 fine had proved "inefficient", it asked the magistrates in Luxembourg to advise on the legality of threatening lawmakers with imprisonment.

Source: The Local December 19, 2019 14:03 UTC