Frustration among EU partners about the blocking of the combustion engine – Paris calls for concession
Source: Fabian Sommer/dpa/symbol image
EU diplomats in Brussels speak of a breach of trust and criticize the government’s disagreement in Berlin in the debate about the ban on internal combustion engines. In the future, one will always ask oneself “what an agreement with Germany is worth at all”.
DThe ongoing German blockade of the planned end for new combustion engines from 2035 is met with incomprehension and horror among European partners. EU diplomats in Brussels speak of a breach of trust and criticize the government’s disagreement in Berlin. The leadership of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is also being questioned.
“We think it’s a breach of trust,” said a diplomat from the German Press Agency (dpa) about the German approach, for which the FDP is primarily responsible. The negotiations would have taken place in the usual manner, objections could have been raised earlier. “One would wish that the coalition’s internal disputes were resolved beforehand.”
In the future, one will always ask oneself “what an agreement with Germany is worth at all”. Another EU diplomat said such behavior is expected from the Hungarian government under Viktor Orban, but that Germany has a special responsibility in the EU.
Actually, it should have been decided since Tuesday that from 2035 only new cars that do not emit greenhouse gases during operation may be sold in the EU. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU states had already agreed on this in October.
At the end of February, about a week before the planned vote by the EU states, FDP Transport Minister Volker Wissing expressed concerns and threatened not to approve the result. He demands that the EU Commission must submit a proposal as to how new private cars that use climate-neutral, synthetic fuels, so-called e-fuels, can still be registered after 2035.
Strong criticism also comes from France. As the Deputy Minister for Transport, Clément Beaune, told the broadcaster LCI in Paris on Wednesday, he had called on Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) to give in.
“We must maintain the ambition to move away from internal combustion engine cars by 2035. Otherwise we will be swept away ecologically and industrially. We must make the electric car an affordable, French and European product,” stressed Beaune. If you now send counter-signals, it will not be possible to create an electric car that is accessible to everyone, said Beaune.