As German government and EU Commission representatives unanimously announced, the dispute over the end of combustion engines is not on the agenda of the heads of state and government on Thursday and Friday. As a result, the end of combustion engines will only be debated in Brussels towards the end of the week.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing wants the EU Commission to show a reliable way of how passenger cars with combustion engines could also be newly registered after 2035, provided they are only operated with so-called e-fuels. According to government circles, the Federal Transport Minister does not reject the EU Commission’s compromise on e-fuels, but Wissing wants to make changes. Therefore, the topic flies off the agenda on the first two days of the EU summit.
Wissing does not agree with the EU Commission’s compromise
Meanwhile, Economics Minister Robert Habeck is pushing for a quick agreement: “It is now also damaging Germany,” Habeck said on Tuesday at a closed meeting of the parliamentary group in Weimar. Actually, negotiators in the European Parliament and the EU states had already agreed in autumn that only zero-emission new cars would be allowed to be registered in the EU from 2035. A confirmation of the deal by the EU states, which was scheduled for early March, was canceled due to additional demands from Germany. Because Italy, Bulgaria and Poland also reject the combustion ban, there would not have been the necessary majority for the law without German approval.
In the federal government, it is above all the FDP that is urging that new cars with combustion engines that refuel with climate-neutral e-fuels may still be registered after 2035. The party justifies this with a so-called recital in the autumn agreement, which provides for certain exceptions for combustion engines with e-fuels.
