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Actually, from 2035 no more combustion engines should be allowed, but shortly after the decision the project wobbled
Photo: Mateusz Wlodarczy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Germany continues to put the brakes on the ban on combustion engines: the ambassadors of the EU countries should have voted on the subject this Wednesday in Brussels, but the vote has been postponed for the time being.
It could now be made up for on Friday.
The planned EU regulation, which provides for a ban on new combustion engines from 2035, is close to its goal.
The European Parliament decided on the project in February, next Tuesday a ministerial meeting is to finally decide on the regulation – usually a formality.
So far, a majority for the combustion engine off was considered safe.
The vote of the ambassadors would have been a test of the actual decision.
However, according to an EU diplomat, the Swedish Council Presidency decided on Wednesday morning to take the issue off the agenda at short notice because a qualified majority for the compromise was no longer assured.
The Swedish ambassador in Brussels has rescheduled due to the German media reports of the past few days.
Resistance from Germany and Italy
Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) recently threatened that Germany could not agree to the vote.
He justified this by saying that the EU Commission has not yet submitted a proposal on how vehicles fueled with e-fuels can be approved after 2035.
This was part of the agreement last year that was used to persuade the FDP to agree within the federal government.
The spokesman for the presidency now stressed that there was no reason to believe that the Commission would not come forward with this proposal.
Italy also announced on Tuesday that it intends to vote against the EU regulation at today's ambassadors' meeting.
Italy believes electric vehicles should not be the only way to achieve zero emissions in the transition phase, Italy's energy minister said.
Poland and Bulgaria could not support the regulation either.
But they could only overturn the proposal with German help.
In the EU Council, the qualified majority applies to the decision: a vote by at least 15 countries that represent at least 65 percent of the EU population is required.
Even with a German abstention, there would be no majority.
Now the EU ambassadors are supposed to vote on phasing out combustion engines on Friday, but it is also unclear whether this will actually happen.
According to diplomatic circles, there could be no pre-vote at all and the regulation could still be passed.
However, this would require a rapprochement between the German Ministry of Transport and Climate Commissioner Frans Timmermans.
According to SPIEGEL information, a solution is now being worked on behind the scenes.
If the Commission were willing to keep the window open for new technological developments in e-fuels, the German Ministry of Transport could give up its resistance.
It is now crucial how the traffic light is coordinated on the matter and how the negotiations with the Commission and the Swedish Council Presidency are going.
The Greens in particular want to prevent failure, and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, which is also led by the Greens, spoke of “European responsibility”.
Should it become apparent at the ambassadors' meeting on Friday that the necessary majority will not be reached, the Council Presidency could also remove the topic from the agenda of the ministerial meeting on Tuesday.
lki/sg/msa/dpa
