EU agreement: New cars should be emission-free from 2035
The EU environment ministers wrestled for more than 16 hours, but finally they agreed: from 2035, new cars in the EU should be emission-free.
Before that, the German government had also argued for a long time about a common line.
According to the will of the EU countries, only climate-neutral new cars should be sold in the European Union from 2035. The ministers responsible for the environment in the 27 states agreed on this during the night.
A final compromise must now be negotiated with the EU Parliament, which wants a complete end for new cars with combustion engines from 2035.
The EU states have spoken out in favor of reducing the so-called fleet limits for cars to zero by 2035. These limit values are specifications for manufacturers as to how much CO2 the cars and vans they produce may emit during operation. This means that from 2035 no more conventionally operated new cars with combustion engines will be sold.
Habeck: Largest climate protection package in years in Europe
EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said after the deliberations that the “overwhelming majority of car manufacturers” are going for electric cars. The EU Commission itself is “technologically neutral”. “What we want are cars with zero emissions.” Timmermans was skeptical about the potential of e-fuels: “Currently, e-fuels don’t seem like a realistic solution. But if manufacturers can prove otherwise in the future, we’ll be open.”
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck welcomed the agreement reached by the EU environment ministers on emission-free new cars and a reform of emissions trading. “This is the largest climate protection package that has been forged in Europe for 15 years,” said the Green politician at night. The decision is a “bold exclamation mark for climate protection in Europe”. His party colleague, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, said: “We are sending a clear signal that we have to achieve the climate goals.” The auto industry gets the planning security that it needs.
The environmental policy spokesman for the EPP group in the European Parliament, Peter Liese, contradicted this. He said on Deutschlandfunk that the EU Commission was only asked to examine exceptions, for example for synthetic fuels, in the planned end for combustion engines from 2035. However, this so-called “reason for recital” is not legally binding.
In addition to the new climate requirements for new cars and vans, the EU countries also agreed on a climate social fund of 59 billion euros and a reform of the EU emissions trading system. Now that the ministers have reached an agreement, negotiations with the EU Parliament can begin to finalize the climate package. So changes are still possible.
FDP had concerns about the combustion engine off
The federal government only found an internal compromise during the ongoing negotiations. According to a government spokesman, the EU Commission has agreed to submit a proposal on how only vehicles fueled with climate-friendly fuels can be registered after 2035. “According to the common understanding of the federal government, this also applies to passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.”
The FDP had great reservations about agreeing to a de facto combustion engine exit. The federal government now has the back door for the Commission to formulate a proposal that also takes climate-friendly fuels into account for new cars with internal combustion engines. The FDP had insisted that after 2035, combustion cars that run on e-fuels could also be approved.
Further negotiations are pending
Actually, the federal government had already agreed in March to approve the project of the EU Commission. In the morning, before the federal government reached a compromise, Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (both Greens) spoke of a common position of the federal government.
The next step is for the EU states and the European Parliament to negotiate together. They have to agree on a common position, although Parliament had already voted in favor of a ban. The EU Commission had already made a proposal last year that included an end to combustion engines from 2035.
