03/26/2023 3:50 pm (act. 03/26/2023 03:50 pm)
Germany wants to save combustion cars ©APA/AFP
After the agreement on the approval of cars with combustion engines beyond 2035, the Minister of Finance of Germany, Christian Lindner, wants to reform the taxation of motor vehicles. The use of ecological fuels – the so-called e-fuels – should be taxed less than gasoline or diesel. “If fuel is environmentally friendly, then the taxation of the car tax must be adjusted to the energy tax”, said the president of the FDP.
The Finance Ministry will come up with a concept for this, Lindner told the German Press Agency weekend. Lindner admitted it will be a while before cars with e-fuel in the tank are running on German roads. “But for people and the economy, it will be an important planning factor that e-fuels are taxed more cheaply than fossil fuels.”
Lindner and the FDP thus continue their commitment to the combustion engine. After weeks of wrangling over the future of that unit, Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) agreed to a compromise with the EU Commission late on Friday. After 2035, new vehicles with internal combustion engines will be able to be registered in the EU if they are fueled with climate-neutral fuel.
Electronic fuels are made with renewable electricity from water and carbon dioxide extracted from the air. Unlike conventional fossil fuels such as gasoline or diesel, they do not release additional climate-damaging gases. Due to high energy consumption during production and high production costs, it is currently still unclear whether producing cars powered by e-fuels is really worthwhile or whether it is cheaper to rely entirely on battery-powered electric cars.
However, the Automotive Industry Association initially reacted positively to the compromise between the German government and the EU Commission on Saturday. “We need all climate-friendly technologies to achieve the EU’s climate targets,” said VDA President Hildegard Müller. E-fuels are an important expansion of the possible spectrum.
However, car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer fears that car manufacturers, who are currently looking for the right way to move away from fossil fuels, will become insecure. “The unprofessional approach of the EU Commission has fueled the debate about whether it is really right to go so uncompromisingly in the electric car,” says the expert at the Center for Automotive Research. “Pandora’s box is open for all questions about electric mobility.” This is bad for the European car industry, “because the Chinese and Americans will widen the gap to the European electric car industry as a result of new investment uncertainties.”
Climate advocates also complain that the auto industry’s “urgently needed focus on efficient electromobility” will be diluted with the deal. “This rotten compromise undermines climate protection in transport and harms Europe,” says Benjamin Stephan of Greenpeace.
The compromise between Germany and the European Commission ends a long stalemate that could also have political repercussions. The European Parliament and EU states had already agreed in October that only new emission-free cars can be registered in the EU from 2035. However, Germany insisted that cars running on e-fuels be included. In early March, at the request of the FDP, the German government blocked confirmation of the agreement by EU states because the Commission’s commitments were still not enough.
According to Wissing, concrete procedural steps and a binding timetable were set for the implementation of the solution now found. “We want the process to be completed by fall 2024,” he said.
The final vote from all 27 EU countries is now due to take place next Tuesday. In addition to Germany, other countries such as Italy, Austria and Poland originally criticized the project. With German approval, however, it is considered quite certain that the necessary majority will be achieved.
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) is planning a car summit. In the coming weeks, he wants to discuss options for funding research into e-fuels with manufacturers, he announced Sunday at ORF’s “press hour”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) welcomed the compromise over the weekend. However, he also made it clear that he still considers the application of the regulation open. “No one can say how many use it and whether it will be relevant.”
The German Greens reacted with relief on Saturday that a deal had finally been found. “It’s good that this stalemate is over,” said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke. “Anything else would have seriously undermined confidence in European procedures and Germany’s reliability in European politics.”
Austria’s climate protection minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) sees it similarly. She welcomed the fact that the path to CO2-neutral mobility will no longer be blocked by the agreement. But the fact that a loophole is needed to gain “approval of brakes and chokes that bemoan an old fossil ideology is a shame and will weaken Europe’s car industry”.
However, it is feared that in the future other EU members may follow Germany’s example and unravel solutions that have already been found in disputes. In this regard, the long-term damage that the dispute has caused in the European Union is not yet foreseeable.