A crucial EU vote on car fleet emissions that was set to spell a de-facto 2035 combustion engine ban has been delayed after German government members said they would not endorse the regulation without exceptions. The Swedish EU presidency announced the postponement of the vote, which was planned for 7 March, without specifying the length of the delay.
The German Finance minister Christian Lindner from the government coalition party Free Democrats (FDP) argued that the EU Commission had not presented any proposals on how exceptions could be incorporated into a final deal on emissions limits. He added that these cars then would have to run on “climate friendly eco-fuels” and stressed that Germany “must retain the technological know-how” it has for combustion engines.
The FDP’s coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party, both reject the idea to compromise on the EU car emissions limits. SPD parliamentary group deputy Detlef Müller said his party “favours a clear decision at an EU level that does not put the end of combustion engines into question.”
The FDP transport minister Volker Wissing recently insisted that combustion engines which run on so called e-fuels should also play a role after the target year. The synthetic fuels would also be needed to reduce emissions in the existing car fleet, Wissing said.
The delay of the vote is a setback for those who want to see a ban on combustion engines by 2035, as it is likely that other countries, including Italy, Poland and Bulgaria, will also vote against the proposed regulation. It remains to be seen whether Germany will be able to find a compromise between its coalition partners and the EU Commission in order to reach an agreement on car emissions limits.
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