The validation by the Member States, scheduled for next Tuesday, of the pre-agreement aimed at banning the sale in the EU of the vast majority of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, has been postponed without a precise date, a spokesperson indicated on Friday. word of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The EU “will come back to the matter in due course”, added this spokesman. Generally considered a formality, the validation by the representatives of the Twenty-seven of the preliminary agreements concluded between the negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council, is no longer a formality in this dossier.
If the Parliament already validated last month this pre-agreement concluded in October, this is not yet the case of the Council. Confirming his long-standing opposition, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing repeated this week on the ARD channel that it was necessary to continue to authorize internal combustion engines that run on synthetic fuels (“e- fuels”), reputed to be cleaner. The liberal, sensitive to the industrial lobby, is demanding a proposal to this effect from the European Commission, which his FDP party has been waiting for six months according to him. Without this, Germany will not give the green light.
However, in the Council, the final text must be approved by at least 15 Member States representing at least 65% of the Union’s population. And without German support, failure is possible, especially since countries like Poland, Italy and Bulgaria could vote against the project. The Swedish presidency therefore preferred to postpone the vote.