According to Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (52, FDP), there are still unanswered questions in the dispute over the future of new cars with combustion engines in the EU. “Now the last legal questions still have to be clarified as far as the technical implementation of this proposal is concerned,” he said on Friday in Mainz. The Ministry of Transport and the EU Commission are currently sending each other regular letters with proposals and trying to find a solution to the current blockade.
Basically, it’s about whether after 2035 cars with classic combustion engines can still be registered. The background to this is a fundamental agreement between the European Parliament and EU states, according to which only zero-emission new cars may be registered in the EU from 2035. Germany had actually already agreed to this agreement, but is now pushing for the approval of new cars with combustion engines that run on e-fuels – i.e. climate-neutral artificial fuels that are produced with green electricity. A confirmation of the agreement by the EU states, which was planned for early March, was therefore initially prevented by Germany.
The Ministry of Transport wants the possibility of licensing purely e-fuel cars to be secured via a so-called delegated act, as can be seen from the letter available to Reuters. Wissing himself explained: “There should be nothing standing in the way of the approval of newly registered vehicles with combustion engines that are fueled exclusively with synthetic fuels, even after 2035.” He emphasized on Twitter: “Our proposal to the EU Commission is the end of the combustion engine.”
E-fuels are scarce and require a lot of energy
Critics of the project emphasize that the production of e-fuels requires a relatively large amount of energy and that fuels are scarce. They would be needed more urgently in aviation and shipping.
When asked about the criticism, Wissing said: “We don’t know how things will develop.” According to the minister, the question of whether there are enough e-fuels for mass use does not arise. Even if the answer to this question is no, that does not speak for the ban on the internal combustion engine. “Because you don’t have to ban something that will be used little or maybe not at all,” said Wissing. His thrust hits at Europe’s most powerful car lobbyist Sigrid de Vries
(55) for understanding: “It is clear that electrification is the right way. But it is also important to achieve the climate goals in the most efficient way and to save as many jobs as possible in a key European industry.”
Von der Leyen believes the dispute will be resolved quickly
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen (64) was confident that a solution would be found quickly in the dispute. “Time is of the essence in this case,” she said on Thursday evening after the first day of an EU summit in Brussels. The project is an important pillar for achieving the EU climate goals. “And that’s why we’re intensifying the talks and I’m confident that we’ll find a good solution soon.”
If there were a compromise by Friday afternoon, the ambassadors of the EU states could approve it. The member states could then formally approve it next week.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously defended the German position against criticism from European partners. “There is a clear understanding in Europe,” said the SPD politician on Thursday at the EU summit. This includes the EU Commission making a proposal as to how vehicles with combustion engines that are only operated with climate-neutral e-fuels can also be approved after 2035.
When the basic agreement was reached in autumn, Germany had negotiated an addition to the agreement, according to which the EU Commission should submit a proposal on how vehicles that are operated exclusively with e-fuels can be approved after 2035. In the EU Commission, the corresponding paragraph was always read in such a way that special vehicles such as ambulances or fire engines should be affected. According to the Berlin interpretation, however, the e-fuel exception should apply to all vehicles.