On Monday, the European Union’s 27 member states endorsed Berlin’s resolution that lifted its opposition to a proposed plan to discontinue sales of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2035.
A representative of Sweden, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said that ambassadors had supported the deal. Energy ministers from the 27 member states are expected to give their final approval on Tuesday.
As one of the largest car producers globally, Germany’s decision to halt an already approved legislation that aimed to ban internal combustion engines (ICE) had caused frustration among other EU countries. The prohibition on such engines is crucial to achieving a “climate-neutral” economy by 2050, which entails achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
At the last minute, Germany hindered the approval of the legislation and demanded an exception for vehicles that use synthetic fuels. This move caused discord within Berlin’s governing coalition and interfered with the EU’s decision-making process. Synthetic fuels require low-carbon electricity but are still in the developmental stage, and environmentalists have voiced their opposition to them.
To maintain unity within his fragile coalition, which includes the European Free Alliance, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yielded to pressure from his liberal partners and advocated for the use of such fuels, which would allow for an extension of the use of combustion engines.
Given the significance of the legislation, the European Commission worked to overcome the impasse with Berlin by engaging in lengthy discussions with the German transport ministry. On Saturday, both parties reached an agreement to settle the disagreement. As per the deal, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said that combustion engine vehicles could still be registered post-2035, provided they use fuels with neutral CO2 emissions.
More than a dozen countries have already set deadlines to end the sales of ICE vehicles due to their contribution to climate change.
Norway leads the way by allowing only zero-emission new vehicles to be sold from 2025 onwards. Britain, Israel and Singapore have also proposed prohibiting the sale of ICE vehicles by 2030. China, the largest polluter and auto market in the world, intends to have battery electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles account for 20 percent of sales by 2025.