German minister dampens hopes for quick deal on EU auto engine rules

Thu, Mar 23, 2023
By editor
2 MIN READ

Foreign

GERMAN Transport Minister, Volker Wissing, has put the brakes on hopes for a quick agreement over the European Union’s agreed phase-out of the combustion engine ahead of a summit on Thursday.

Expected EU rules said it would only allow emission-free new cars after 2,035 had been put on hold after Germany raised last-minute objections and pressed for additional demands.

“Technology bans have never brought the country any further,” Wissing told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Thursday.

The free-market Free Democrats (FDP), a junior partner in Germany’s ruling coalition, has led efforts to revise the deal.

And Wissing, a politician from the FDP, has himself pushed back on demands from the EU Commission to reach a quick agreement.

“We are talking about regulation for the year 2035.

“I don’t understand why you shouldn’t be able to take the time to look at things closely again,” Wissing said.

Wissing and other German politicians have pressed the EU Commission to allow new passenger cars with combustion engines to be registered after 2035 if the vehicles run on so-called e-fuels.

This deviates from a deal negotiated at the EU level back in autumn that only emission-free new cars may be registered in the EU from 2035.

Final confirmation of the deal by the EU states, which was scheduled for early March and considered a formality, was cancelled after Germany raised its objections.

Wissing, in an appearance on public broadcaster ZDF, said he did not want to delay anything but wanted to “check carefully and advocate for the interest of the Federal Republic of Germany.”

Wissing said he wanted a technology-open regulation that did not just focus on one mobility option.

A leading Green Party politician, Britta Haßelmann, asked the government to end its blockade in the dispute.

Wissing and other FDP politicians have, however, received support from the conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc.

“The FDP should remain steadfast,” CDU deputy leader Jens Spahn told the Augsburg newspaper. (dpa/NAN)

KN

Tags: