Home » The EU Commission also wants to allow combustion engines with e-fuels from 2035

The EU Commission also wants to allow combustion engines with e-fuels from 2035

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The EU Commission also wants to allow combustion engines with e-fuels from 2035

Cars with combustion engines will be banned in the EU from 2035. The EU Parliament, the Commission and the Member States have agreed on this, even though Austria and Germany have vetoed it. As reported, however, a back door was left open for the controversial e-fuels. The Commission has now gone one step further and wants to continue to allow cars with combustion engines, provided they can only be refueled with so-called e-fuels, according to a regulatory proposal from the Brussels authorities, which was presented to the Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

Germany wants to soften the ban on combustion engines – in favor of e-fuels

Combustion engines should remain permitted with e-fuels

The new vehicle category should only use synthetic fuel generated with the help of electricity. The cars would have to be able to technically recognize when there is petrol or diesel in the tank and then switch off automatically. Such a type class of cars could then also be approved after 2035. The used car fleet could already continue to be fueled with e-fuels under the current legal situation. But so far this fuel is rarely in production and is considered scarce, expensive and inefficient. Therefore, according to the intention of the Commission, they should be reserved primarily for shipping or air traffic that cannot be operated directly with electricity.

However, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) insists that new vehicles can also be powered by e-fuels. He had therefore surprisingly announced a veto against Germany’s approval of the largely unified end of combustion engines. Since other countries, including Austria, have also joined, there is currently no majority for the original plans.

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German transport minister rejects compromise

As Der Spiegel reports, Wissing should also reject the EU Commission’s compromise proposal – as does FDP leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner. The reasons for the rejection are unclear. The officials in the German Ministry of Transport are currently working on an alternative draft that they want to present in the next few days. Wissing pushed through a passage in the negotiations between the Commission, states and parliament last year, according to which the Commission was asked to submit a proposal on e-fuels.

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This passage is not legally binding. The Commission also wanted to publish it only after the formal decision of the states. However, Wissing demands an agreement beforehand. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens), who is behind the commission here, is actually in charge of the process. However, in the event of a dispute in the coalition in Brussels, Germany can only abstain from voting, which in this case is equivalent to a no.

The back door for e-fuels remains open despite the ban on combustion engines

France upset at Germany delay

France was annoyed by these delays. Foreign Minister Laurence Boone called for the regulations negotiated last year between the member states, the Commission and Parliament to be implemented in this way. “We should stick to the deal. I have no doubt that the Germans will find an agreement with their colleagues on this.”

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