At the meeting of the EU environment ministers, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) announced the federal government’s approval of phasing out combustion engines from 2035 and proposed a compromise. The combustion engine off had previously triggered a controversy within the traffic light coalition.
“Germany supports the proposal” of the European Commission to only register private cars and light commercial vehicles without diesel or petrol engines in the EU from 2035, said Lemke on Tuesday in Luxembourg. At the same time, she proposed an exception that the traffic light coalition was apparently able to agree on.
So far, the Commission’s proposal stipulates that by 2035 the new car fleet of car manufacturers should emit 100 percent fewer emissions than in 2021. There should be a strong focus on electromobility. This proposal on exhaust emissions is part of the climate package with which the EU wants to reduce its CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030.
Lemke now demanded in Luxembourg that the EU Commission should submit a proposal “for the approval of vehicles after 2035 that are operated exclusively with CO2-neutral fuels” and are “outside the range of fleet standards”. This means vehicles that run on synthetic fuels (e-fuels). These are considered CO2-neutral.
The opposition in Berlin criticized the traffic light tugging. The climate and energy policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Andreas Jung, told FOCUS Online: “The federal government has been lobbying in Brussels for months for a ban on the internal combustion engine, now it no longer has any stance on it. The die is being cast today by the Council of Environment Ministers and a coordinated German position is not known. When Robert Habeck now explains that a “good solution” must be found for the “special points of view” of different EU states, then a reference is missing: Even in the federal government, each party has its own “special point of view”, the traffic light flashes in all Directions and a guided tour by the Federal Chancellor will not take place. Sustainable transport is of central importance for climate protection, Germany is the strongest “car country” in Europe – and the federal government is a total failure. We call on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to publicly represent a clear position before the Council of Environment Ministers and in Brussels. There must be no compromises on the climate targets. This does not require an EU engine ban, but a strict CO2 cap. Climate protection is also possible with climate-neutral fuel, not just with electric cars. The EU must set the framework, not dictate the technology.”
The FDP had previously insisted that technologies such as e-fuels should not be excluded from the EU negotiations on fleet limits as part of the climate package. Combustion engines would thus also be permitted after 2035 if they use e-fuels. The combustion engine off had triggered a controversy within the traffic light coalition. The Greens and SPD were in favor of banning internal combustion engines from 2035, while the FDP was against it.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expressed his approval for the use of e-fuels after 2035 on Tuesday. The federal government wants to make it possible “that after 2035 cars can also be registered with CO2-neutral technologies with e-fuels,” said Scholz at the G7 meeting at Schloss Elmau.
In the EU Parliament, which agreed at the beginning of June to end the combustion engine from 2035, a greater importance for synthetic fuels was rejected.
An agreement by the EU environment ministers on phasing out combustion engines was initially uncertain on Tuesday. Hungary announced that it would not agree to a 100 percent reduction in emissions for new car fleets, but praised the proposal from Germany. Spain and Finland spoke out in favor of ending internal combustion engines.
