In the dispute over the future of new cars with combustion engines, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing is confident that a viable solution will now be found. The FDP politician told the German Press Agency that they had consulted closely with the EU Commission and, after careful examination, submitted a constructive proposal for a solution. "We assume that not only all substantive but also legal questions have been sufficiently answered."
Wissing added: "Nothing should stand in the way of the approval of newly registered vehicles with internal combustion engines that are fuelled exclusively with synthetic fuels after 2035." It is now expected that the EU Commission will issue a corresponding declaration, name clear time targets and set the process for corresponding legal acts in motion.
The Ministry had sent on Thursday evening, a response to the latest solution proposals of the EU Commission to Brussels, as it was said from government circles in Berlin. At the beginning of the week, their proposals had become known. Accordingly, the authority defined in a draft criteria for the approval of new vehicles that are operated exclusively with CO₂-neutral fuels.
The background is a fundamental agreement between the European Parliament and EU member states, according to which only emission-free new cars may be registered in the EU from 2035. However, Germany is pushing for new cars with combustion engines that fill up with e-fuels – climate-neutral artificial fuels produced with green electricity. A confirmation of the agreement by the EU member states scheduled for the beginning of March was therefore initially prevented by Germany.