2023-12-18 04:14:00
AFP reported on the 17th (local time) that the German government faced backlash when it suddenly ended subsidies for electric vehicles.
Ferdinand Dudenhüfer, an analyst at the German Automotive Research Center, warned in an interview with local daily newspaper Rheinische Post that this decision might have dramatic consequences, AFP reported.
“Now the competitiveness of (automotive) manufacturers will be seriously damaged,” he said. Another local business daily, Handelsblatt, warned that scrapping the subsidy system risks jeopardizing the German government’s plan to supply 15 million electric vehicles by 2030.
This newspaper stated, “The goal of 15 million units was already extremely unrealistic, but now (due to the cessation of subsidies) it seems to be nothing more than a fantasy.”
Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled that the government’s diversion of 60 billion euros (approximately 85.4 trillion won) from the COVID-19 budget to the climate change response fund was unconstitutional, and subsidy applications were suddenly suspended on the 16th.
An Economy Ministry spokesman said it was an “unfortunate situation” for consumers who had hoped to benefit from the subsidy, but that they had no choice as “there is no longer enough money available”.
According to the Ministry of Economy, a total of 10 billion euros (approximately 14 trillion won) has been paid to regarding 2.1 million electric vehicles since 2016 under the electric vehicle subsidy system.
AFP reported that Germany’s main industry, the automobile industry, is having difficulty transitioning to electric vehicles due to the sluggish global economic recovery and demand.
German cars also face serious challenges in China, one of the most important markets. Dudenhüfer Analysis pointed out that “the Chinese automobile industry is expanding massively, but there are no more customers in Germany.”
The German Constitutional Court’s ruling left a major gap in the government’s spending plans and threw Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition into chaos, AFP added.
After already adopting the emergency budget for 2023, the Scholz coalition fought for several weeks over next year’s budget and managed to reach an agreement, but the agreement was in danger of being in vain due to the Constitutional Court’s decision.
(Seoul = News 1)
1702880178
#Aftereffects #German #electric #vehicle #subsidies.. #Tea #Industry #Scholz #Coalition #Risk
