Germany: EU vote on internal combustion engine ban postponed

EU countries have postponed a final decision on a complete ban on new cars with internal combustion engines from 2035, Brussels said. A new voting date has not yet been announced.

Shortly before, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) had said in Berlin that Germany could not currently accept the planned ban. Wissing reiterated a call for the European Commission to come up with a proposal on how climate-neutral synthetic fuels could be used in internal combustion engines after 2035. The European Commission has yet to respond to this statement.

The law requires the approval of 15 of the 27 EU member states, which together must represent at least 65% of the total EU population. Besides Germany, countries such as Italy, Poland and Bulgaria have refused to approve these plans. Without Germany, the 65% barrier will not be reached.

The stumbling block – E-Fuels

In fact, representatives of the European Parliament and EU countries agreed in October 2022 that from 2035 only new cars that do not emit greenhouse gases during operation are allowed to be sold. in the euro area. The next vote of the EU countries is the last, in fact formal, stage of the legislative process.

However, Wissing declared his disagreement with the draft and threatened that Germany might not agree with other participants in the voting procedure. And above all, due to the lack of an EU proposal that after 2035 it will only be possible to register cars filled with climate-neutral fuel. By the way, this was part of the agreement reached in the EU Council of States in June 2022.

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