The ministers of several European countries reluctant to the end of the sale of combustion engine vehicles in 2035 and worried about the draft Euro 7 anti-pollution automotive standard, currently under negotiation, are meeting this Monday in Strasbourg. Last week, Germany blocked a vote of the twenty-seven member states to this effect.
With our correspondent in Brussels, Jean-Jacques Hery
Initially, this meeting was to be devoted to the Commission’s project to strengthen anti-pollution standards for internal combustion vehicles. This new standard, called Euro 7, is intended to be more restrictive and it would apply from 2025, which is far too early for a certain number of States worried about the future of their automobile industry.
And this is also how we must translate Berlin’s volte-face on last week’s vote. A turnaround that brings another subject around the table: that of 100% electric motorization for vehicles after 2035. This was an objective targeted by the European Commission, a crucial measure of the European Climate Plan to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 However, last week, Germany finally opposed the text which provided for the ban on thermal cars for 2035 and the generalization of electric, and this, while the twenty-seven Member States should have voted last Tuesday to ratify this decision. The vote on what was supposed to be a formality therefore had to be postponed.
Synthetic fuels
With the support of a number of countries, such as Italy, Poland and Bulgaria, united at the initiative of the Czech Republic, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing will try to obtain concessions from the representatives of the Commission. Germany wants an extension for heat engines after 2035, as long as they run on synthetic fuel. A technology defended by German manufacturers which is also the price asked by Berlin to agree to vote in favor of the text.
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