Why Germany is holding back on the EU stop to internal combustion engines (and how the Scholz government is split)
All the turmoil in the German government over the European ban on combustion engines from 2035. Pierluigi Mennitti's analysis from Berlin after Germany's abstention which caused the postponement of the EU stop
EU countries will therefore not vote on banning internal combustion engines in new cars from 2035 as planned next Tuesday. The vote was removed from the agenda of the meeting of EU ambassadors, as a disconsolate spokesman for the Swedish presidency explained, who did not indicate a new date for the final vote on the project, on which the representatives of the EU states and the Parliament had already reached a basic agreement in October and on which the same assembly in Strasbourg and Brussels had voted in favor on 15 February last. Now we will talk about it at a date to be determined.
In addition to Italy, a determining factor in reaching the postponement was that of Germany. On Tuesday 28 February, Transport Minister Volker Wissing, FDP, had given an interview to Bild threatening Berlin's veto of the proposed ban, unless the Commission accepted the German request to allow the use of fuel-powered cars synthetic fuels, the so-called e-fuels. "Considering the huge car fleet in Germany alone, it is only possible for the FDP to reach a compromise on car fleet limits if the use of e-fuel is allowed," the minister said.
The next day (March 1) a preliminary vote of EU ambassadors had failed at the first attempt. According to information provided by Spiegel , the Swedish Prime Minister had decided on Wednesday morning to remove the issue from the agenda at short notice because a qualified majority for the compromise was no longer guaranteed. The Swedish ambassador in Brussels had changed his plans due to reports from the German press.
In Italy, there was immediate talk of a possible Italy-Germany axis, to aim for greater gradualness in the transition process. Two accounts are needed to understand the complex game at hand. Within the Council of the EU, a qualified majority is applied to the decision: the vote of at least 15 countries representing at least 65% of the population of the Union is required. After Italy's announcement to the contrary and resistance from Poland and Bulgaria, Germany's abstention prevented the attainment of a majority.
And that Berlin would abstain was now certain. A few hours before the postponement, Wissing had confirmed that, without a yes to e-fuels, Berlin would not have been able to vote for the ban.
THE BATTLE ON CARS INSIDE GERMANY
It has been a battle in the German government for days. Liberals on one side, Greens on the other and the Chancellor with his Social Democrats in between. This time the FDP got in the way, also thanks to the ownership of the Ministry of Transport, supported by the strengthened Christian-Democratic opposition, but also by automobile associations and a part of the car industry. A block that has allowed the liberals to impose their position on the executive, despite the arrows of the ecological allies.
But the first internal political reactions suggest that the game is not over and that the confrontation in the government will continue heated. The question is whether Olaf Scholz, once he returns from his lightning visit to Washington, will take the issue head-on and keep the government's bar steady on the position reaffirmed once again by Minister Wissing: the European Commission must present a proposal on how synthetic fuels climate-neutral can be used in combustion engines after 2035.
Jan-Christoph Oetjen, Fdp MEP echoes this directly from Brussels: "With these fuels, combustion engines can operate in a climate-neutral way", he told German TV Ard , "we don't have to commit ourselves to just one technology, but we need all options to achieve the goal of decarbonisation and neutrality of CO2 emissions in transport”. A point also held by Christian Lindner, the leader of the FDP as well as finance minister and vice-chancellor: “The goal of the liberals is to ensure that new cars with combustion engines are still registered in Germany after 2035. However, these vehicles will have to run on environmentally friendly climate-friendly fuels, e-fuels. Unfortunately, the European Commission has made no effort to seriously consider exceptions for these cars in its ban plans.
But on the other side of the rope, the Greens are pressing, as well as the ecological squares, such as that of the revived Friday for future, which on the very same day in which the EU announced the postponement, flooded the European streets with demonstrators, in particular those of Berlin, where the liberals have become the new enemy to face. In the government Steffi Lemke, Minister of the Environment, is pressing for the executive not to place conditions on the Commission and to return to negotiations.
Again from Brussels, another German MEP, this time from the Greens, Michael Bloss, directly calls into question the chancellor Olaf Scholz: "This is a great embarrassment for the federal government at European level", he always told Ard, "what what happened is extremely unprofessional and chaotic procedures in the EU. When a government commits itself then it cannot back down to the last step. That's why it's now up to Olaf Scholz to intervene personally."
The German press almost unanimously believes that neither the German government nor the European Commission have an interest in derailing the entire law. Car manufacturers need planning security, many have long since switched to electric mobility and some companies want to convert their fleets accordingly before 2035. This is another reason why Ursula von der Leyen will arrive at the closed-door meeting that the German government will be held at the residence in Meseberg, just outside Berlin, this weekend to consult directly with those responsible.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/germania-divieto-auto-motori-combustione-interna/ on Sat, 04 Mar 2023 06:56:42 +0000.