breaking news
Status: 03/25/2023 10:45 a.m
The federal government has reached an agreement with the EU in the dispute over the end of new cars with combustion engines from 2035. According to Transport Minister Wissing, vehicles can also be re-registered after 2035 if they only fill up with CO2-neutral fuels.
Germany and the EU have agreed in the dispute over the internal combustion engine. This was announced by Transport Minister Wissing and EU Commission Vice President Timmermans on Twitter after the dispute over e-fuels. Wissing said the agreement was reached late yesterday evening. The way has been cleared for vehicles with combustion engines that only use climate-neutral fuels to be re-registered after 2035.
“We have reached an agreement with Germany on the future use of e-fuels in cars,” tweeted EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing wrote: “The way is clear: Europe remains technology-neutral.” According to him, vehicles with combustion engines can continue to be registered if they only fill up with CO2-neutral fuels.
Scholz had expressed himself optimistically
Most recently, the federal government saw a solution within reach. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday after the EU summit in Brussels about an agreement with the EU Commission: “It will happen, and fairly quickly.” Wissing had said that the Commission’s response to the latest German proposals made him optimistic.
The Ministry of Transport sent an answer to the EU Commission’s proposals to Brussels on Thursday evening, and the authority responded on Friday. The ministry wanted to check them. The background to this are efforts to resolve a blockade on the ban on conventional combustion engines in the EU.
When the basic combustion engine agreement was reached in autumn, Germany negotiated an addition to the agreement, according to which the EU Commission should submit a proposal on how vehicles that only run on 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. A confirmation of the agreement by the EU states, which was planned for early March, was therefore initially prevented by Germany.