Germany’s transport minister has threatened to block a core part of the EU’s green agenda
“Berlin would not support plans to effectively ban new cars with internal combustion engines from 2035 unless Brussels exempts vehicles running on synthetic fuels.”
Doug Sheridan
The FT writes, Germany’s transport minister has threatened to block a core part of the EU’s green agenda,
Volker Wissing called for the European Commission to make a proposal to allow for the production of combustion engines running on synthetic fuels beyond 2035 or face a backlash from Berlin. The declaration comes days ahead of an EU vote on plans to force European automakers to cut their cars’ carbon emissions by 55% between 2021 and 2030, and 100% by 2035. Without Berlin’s backing, the law will not pass. Poland has already stated its opposition, while Bulgaria has said it will abstain.
Following Wissing’s intervention, Italy’s energy ministry said Rome would also obstruct the plans. Environmental targets should “avoid negative repercussions for the country both in terms of employment and production”, it said in a statement.
To Sum It Up: The current EU plan, which was provisionally agreed upon by member states last year, will effectively make it impossible to sell new petrol or diesel vehicles beginning 2035. That's made it highly controversial in Germany, where hundreds of thousands of jobs in the automotive sector could be affected by an effective ban on vehicles.
Our Take 1: Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, took credit for pushing Italy to resist Brussels on the combustion engine ban. “Yes to environmental sustainability but with common sense, avoiding giving China entire industries and hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Salvini tweeted. Expect this sentiment to continue to gain traction across the EU and UK. Reality dictates it must.
Our Take 2: Frans Timmermans, the EU’s commissioner for the Green Deal, has been critical of the environmental benefits of e-fuels, leading to concerns in Berlin that the commission will not make allowances for them when it reviews the legislation in 2025. He and other hopeless bureaucrats seem, one way or another, determined to drive a wedge between European nations even as they degrade everything from EU citizens' basic mobility to energy security and affordability. We see the potential for a messy, home-brewed Euro-style quagmire on the horizon.
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