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Exhaust fumes from cars stuck in traffic
Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa
Do internal combustion engines for cars have a future in the EU?
In the morning there was back and forth between the Green Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and the FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner - now there is a compromise.
As a government spokesman announced, the traffic light government supports an emerging proposal by the EU Council on fleet limits as a "contribution to climate-neutral mobility".
Nothing stands in the way of the end of new combustion cars from 2035.
The Federal Government welcomes the fact that the EU Commission has agreed to make a proposal outside the system of fleet limits on how vehicles could be registered after 2035 that would then be operated "exclusively" with climate-neutral fuels (e-fuels).
According to the common understanding of the federal government, this also applies to passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
In the negotiations of the past few days, it was possible to anchor this concern of the coalition agreement in the text of the decision, according to the government spokesman: "Under this condition, the federal government would approve the proposal."
In FDP circles it was said that this position was united with the party.
It was previously unclear whether Germany would agree to an end for new cars with combustion engines in the EU from 2035 - or abstain.
The topic had sparked a heated argument in the federal government, and the FDP had great concerns.
She had insisted that after 2035 combustion engines that use e-fuels could also be approved.
Agreement of the EU environment ministries is pending
Even if there is now apparently agreement within the federal government, the EU ministers responsible for the environment still have to find a common position.
You are consulting in Luxembourg today.
Long negotiations are expected to continue into the night.
Cars are particularly affected by the so-called CO2 fleet limits.
Vehicles that have already been registered would not be affected by a de facto ban on combustion engines in 2035.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said at the end of the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria that many proposals were still being developed at EU level, so that intermediate results would not make sense.
"But we actually agree to act as one."
The benchmark for the traffic light government is the coalition agreement, in which the plans are described in detail.
Emission-free drives are the focus, but one also wants to make it possible for 2035 cars to be registered with e-fuels, for example.
mrc/dpa
