Germany has forged an alliance with Italy and several Eastern European countries against the planned end of combustion engines from 2035. The EU Commission now needs an answer on how climate-neutral cars can continue to be operated regardless of technology, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said after a meeting with his colleagues in Strasbourg yesterday.
Wissing said skepticism about the combustion engine’s departure was shared among others by Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic. Wissing said he wanted a separate category of combustion cars that could run on synthetic, climate-neutral fuels. These should also be allowed after 2035.
Alliance could stop the combustion engine
The alliance of states can prevent the elimination of the combustion engine, which is already largely unified and already decided by the EU Parliament. The European Parliament, the EU Commission and member states had already agreed last year to phase out combustion engines for passenger cars from 2035.
At Germany’s insistence, the non-binding request to the EU Commission to examine options for the use of synthetic fuels was added. With them, internal combustion engines could continue to work.
Wissing is now demanding that the Commission commit to synthetic fuels before the state’s formal decision is made and not just rely on electromobility.