Chancellor slows down Transport Minister: Merkel does not rule out hardware retrofitting for diesel

04/11/2018

Chancellor slows down Transport Minister Merkel does not rule out hardware retrofitting for diesel

REUTERS

Angela Merkel with Finance Minister Olaf Scholz during the closed meeting of the cabinet in Meseberg

Unlike Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) Chancellor Angela Merkel closes one Hardware retrofit for diesel cars not from. The final analysis of the appraisals about such retrofitting is still pending, said the CDU chairwoman on Wednesday after the closed-door meeting of the Federal Cabinet at Schloss Meseberg. This will take a few more weeks.

But she limited that benefits and costs “in any case” should be in reasonable proportion to each other. “And this hardware retrofit is relatively expensive.”

Scheuer had told the “Passauer Neue Presse” that his ministry had legal and technical Reservations against the subsequent installation of emission control systems in older diesel vehicles, “I want to achieve compliance with the limits without hardware retrofits and to promote the measures already initiated.” The Federal Director of the German Environmental Aid (DUH), Jürgen Resch, valued the statements of the CSU politician as a sign that the federal government once again let itself be directed by the automotive industry recognizable.

Merkel said the government was aware of the importance of carmakers as a lead industry. However, there are clear expectations for the automotive industry, which has noticeably made serious mistakes. “Neither the customer nor the taxpayer can answer for that, but it has to be put back in order as far as possible by the automobile industry.” It is now important that the planned funding programs are implemented in a targeted manner and that the first decisions are issued to affected municipalities. A big “car summit” is not planned.

Merkel wants to avoid blue plaque as much as possible

The Federal Government wants to avoid driving bans and the introduction of a blue badge for the labeling of low-emission diesel as much as possible and to spare the citizens of impact as possible. According to Merkel, Merkel expects that in about two to three years, about ten of the last 66 cities in Germany will be affected by excessive levels of pollutants from diesel vehicles. Special measures should be discussed with these ten cities.

On the other hand, DUH believes that the technical retrofitting of diesel vehicles at the expense of the industry is urgently needed. This retrofit would cost a maximum of 15 billion euros, of which up to ten billion euros should go to the expense of German manufacturers.

Technical solutions are available and can be used at short notice. They are also financed by the industry from their huge profits. The auto industry rejects a hardware solution with a conversion of engines, however. The automakers have promised for millions of vehicles instead a software retrofit, which should reduce the nitrogen oxide emissions by 25 to 30 percent.

la / reuters

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