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Volker Wissing: Mobility as a luxury good?
Photo: Britta Pedersen / dpa
Not only car manufacturers are opposed to the EU Commission's plans for a new Euro 7 emissions standard from 2025. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing is also critical of the proposals.
The FDP politician has warned against overly strict regulation and job cuts.
"Regulation must promote mobility, not prevent it," Wissing told the dpa news agency.
The systematic shortage caused by regulation not only endangers the further ramp-up of e-mobility, but also increasingly countless jobs.
“When vehicles become more and more expensive without any more environmental protection being associated with them, mobility becomes a luxury good,” said Wissing.
»We need participation through individual mobility in the area – also in the future.«
In November, the EU Commission presented its proposals for stricter emissions standards.
Road traffic is the biggest source of air pollution in cities.
The new standards should ensure cleaner vehicles on the roads and better air quality to protect citizens' health and the environment.
Euro 7, for example, is intended to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from cars by 35 percent by 2035, and by more than 50 percent from buses and trucks.
Minister calls for synthetic fuels
"When the automotive industry warns that regulation makes vehicles unnecessarily expensive and hinders the acceleration of e-mobility, that should be taken very seriously," said Wissing.
"The EU Commission cannot, on the one hand, demand high climate protection goals and, on the other hand, prevent their achievement through regulation." The internal combustion engine can combine climate protection and mobility with synthetic fuels.
»Europe must not prevent this technological solution.«
The federal states with a strong car industry - i.e. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony - had asked the federal government not to accept the EU Commission's plans for the Euro 7 emissions standard.
In the event of implementation, the three countries fear considerable disadvantages for the German auto industry, as stated in a letter from the three prime ministers to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
The new emissions directive is to apply to newly registered vehicles from July 2025.
The European Parliament and EU states still have to approve the Commission's proposals.
Negotiations are currently underway.
In a next step, EU countries and Parliament must come to an agreement before the rules can come into force.
In theory, the Commission's proposal can still change quite a bit.
mmq/dpa
