The threatened veto by FDP Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing against the EU's plan to phase out combustion engines is a remarkable coup.
The qualified majority of EU countries for the controversial decision would be gone.
A commentary by Georg Anastasiadis.
That's called a coup: FDP Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing wants to stop the end of new combustion engines from 2035 planned by the EU Commission at the last second.
The social-democratic EU climate commissioner Frans Timmermans had previously wanted to push through this by hook or by crook, despite skeptical signals from Rome and also from parts of the Berlin traffic light government.
While in Germany the SPD and the Greens agree to the end of combustion engines, the FDP fears for the future of the domestic auto industry.
If the traffic light government now has to abstain in Brussels due to resistance from the FDP, the qualified majority of EU countries required for the ban may be gone.
Then, after 2035, cars that are fueled with CO2-emission-free "e-fuels" will also be allowed to be newly registered in Europe,
Climate change will only succeed with openness to technology and inventiveness
That would be a great success for the beleaguered Liberals, for which they are willing to put up with a lot of trouble in the traffic light coalition.
Above all, it would be a victory of reason.
Too many in the EU Commission in Brussels still cling to the mistaken belief that the state is the better entrepreneur who not only has to dictate the climate goals to the manufacturers, but also the technology to achieve them.
However, climate change will only succeed if there is an openness to technology and the inventive spirit of many engineers.
Anyone who dries up this pond of ideas and plays climate protection off against the economy will lose the global competition for a green future.
Incidentally, the fight that German Environment Minister Robert Habeck is currently declaring against homeowners and tenants is also unwinnable.
As early as 2024, the climate minister wants to ban the installation of new oil and gas heating systems, not only in new buildings but also in existing ones.
In many cases, this will be so expensive and drive up housing prices so much that the draft law will fly in the face of the overambitious climate minister.
It is just as inconceivable that FDP finance minister Christian Lindner would accumulate tens of billions in new debt for the subsidies demanded by his favorite opponent, Habeck.
George Anastasiadis