Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has now declared that Germany will not agree to an EU ban on internal combustion engines. Just a few hours earlier, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) said the opposite. The focus of the dispute is the use of synthetic fuels, so-called e-fuels.
The traffic light coalition is still unable to agree on a common course for the planned EU-wide phasing out of combustion engines from 2035. In particular, the positions between the Green Ministry of the Environment, which clearly advocates an end, and the two FDP-led departments of transport and finance diverge widely.
According to Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), the federal government will not agree to a ban on the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035 at EU level. At Industry Day in Berlin on Tuesday, he said there would be regions of the world where electromobility could not be introduced for the next few decades. If there is a ban on the new registration of the combustion engine, then it will not be further developed, at least not in Europe and Germany.
Therefore, he considers a decision to ban the combustion engine de facto wrong, said Lindner: “I have therefore decided that I in the federal government, that we in the federal government, will not agree to this European legislation.” The EU Parliament wants Ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines from 2035.
Lindner also received support for his stance on Tuesday from FDP Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who had already been very critical of the EU plans in the past. Wissing said at Industry Day that Finance Minister Lindner had found the right words. There is no universal solution to achieve climate goals. Various drives are required.
Just a few hours earlier, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) had declared at an event on the mobility transition that the “entire federal government” had agreed in March to “support the EU Commission’s proposal in all forms, from 2035 only zero-emission vehicles to allow”. Chancellor Scholz already said in February that the dispute between the FDP and the Greens regarding the end of combustion engines had been settled. According to “Spiegel”, internal papers from March also said: “We support (…) the proposals. Regarding Lindner’s statements, Lemke told the German Press Agency in the evening: “I am very much in favor of the federal government sticking to their previous common line on the planned end of combustion engines in Europe from 2035.”
The dispute within the coalition, which has been smoldering for weeks, is primarily about the use of synthetic fuels, so-called e-fuels. In a new version of the instruction for the meeting of EU environment ministers next Tuesday, the FDP states that the compromise line will not be supported because “according to According to this proposal, the use of e-fuels in passenger cars and light commercial vehicles will no longer be possible from 2035.” The “Spiegel” quotes this from the letter.
Transport Minister Wissing in particular insists that vehicles with combustion engines can also be re-registered after 2035 if they can be proven to be fueled only with e-fuels. Finance Minister Lindner also wants to keep a niche for the internal combustion engine. In the papers for the meeting of environment ministers and also in the proposal of the EU Commission, e-fuels are not even mentioned.
If they are produced with green electricity, e-fuels do not emit any additional greenhouse gases, but have so far only been available in small quantities and are therefore expensive. According to this, it is mainly the wealthier in society that can afford it. In addition, the production is resource-intensive and both ecologically and economically unsuitable for passenger cars. Hydrogen is first formed from water by electrolysis with large amounts of green electricity, then carbon is added, resulting in combustible gases or liquid fuel.
Lemke also believes that this type of fuel is only suitable in certain areas, since it requires more electricity to produce than electrically powered cars. Lemke emphasized on Tuesday that e-fuels could play a role in “special vehicles such as excavators or the fire brigade”. Volkswagen has calculated that synthetic gasoline has an efficiency of only ten to fifteen percent. In addition, it is currently not possible to fill up with pure e-fuels. In the traffic light coalition agreement, the FDP had already advocated “that it can be proven that only vehicles that can be refueled with e-fuels can be newly registered.”
Environmental groups criticized the attitude of the FDP ministers. “The internal combustion engine is a discontinued model. Christian Lindner will not be able to change that either. With an abstention in the EU Environment Council on the important issue of phasing out combustion engines, Germany would be doing a disservice to the companies that have long since made their way towards a battery-electric future,” commented BUND Managing Director Antje von Broock.
At the meeting of the EU environment ministers next Tuesday, the EU states want to adopt their position on the project. The decision does not have to be unanimous, a qualified majority is sufficient. Germany could also abstain from the vote if the fronts remain as hardened as they are at the moment. A qualified majority is achieved under two conditions: first, at least 15 of the 27 EU countries must agree, and they must represent at least 65 percent of the total EU population.
However, before a ban can come into force, the EU states must also come to an agreement with the European Parliament. In Brussels, many are currently assuming that there will be an end to new combustion engines from 2035. Then the decision would also be binding for Germany – regardless of whether the federal government had previously given its approval or not.
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