Germany and the European Union have reached an agreement in their dispute over a Brussels plan to ban internal combustion engines starting in 2035, officials announced Saturday. According to the tweets of Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the European Commission, and Volker Wissing, the German transport minister, Brussels has agreed to allow new vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines to be put on the market even after 2035, if they use climate-neutral fuel.
“We have reached an agreement with Germany on the future use of e-fuels in cars” – written by Carpenter on Twitter.
The original EU proposal for new carbon dioxide emissions standards for cars called for a complete ban on the sale of new cars powered by internal combustion engines from 2035. The plan was to be adopted at the beginning of March, but Germany, whose car industry would be hit hard by the EU plan, opposed the move and demanded an exemption for cars running on so-called e-fuels, which are flammable synthetic liquid fuels that are made from separated carbon dioxide and produced by connecting renewable hydrogen.
Berlin argued that such fuels are produced using renewable energy and carbon dioxide captured from the air, and thus do not emit harmful substances into the atmosphere. German officials also stressed that a total ban on internal combustion engines could harm the entire European car industry, which “he needs e-fuels because there is no alternative for the climate-neutral operation of our existing fleet”.
“Vehicles with an internal combustion engine can be put on the market again after 2035 if they only fill up with CO2-neutral fuel” Wissing wrote on Twitter.
EU diplomats will officially approve the phase-out of internal combustion engines in a vote on Monday.