A big step has been taken in the psychodrama that has been playing out in Brussels for three weeks on CO2 emissions from cars, and threatened to call into question the ambitious climate program of the European Union. The vote on the European law ending the sale of heat engines in 2035 within the Union should finally take place within the framework of the meeting of energy ministers on Tuesday in Brussels.
The EU and Germany have reached an agreement which settles the dispute that blocked the final vote on this major European text. Against all expectations, Berlin had torpedoed this one – yet voted by the Parliament and the European Council – at the last minute, in an unprecedented volte-face at this stage of the procedure, triggering a wave of protests in Brussels.
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The agreement reached on Saturday authorizes the continuation beyond 2035 of thermal engines using synthetic fuels, as Germany called for it. “The way is clear: Europe remains technologically neutral. Vehicles equipped with a combustion engine can be re-registered following 2035 if they only use neutral fuels in terms of CO2 emissions,” German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said in a tweet on Saturday.
Tension has been high in recent days, as heads of state gathered for a European summit on Thursday and Friday. The subject was not on the agenda but was invited to the debates and was the subject of a one-to-one discussion between Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz. The German chancellor needed an agreement ahead of a tense government seminar on Sunday evening in Berlin.
The environmental and liberal partners of his coalition are indeed at loggerheads and are now showing their dissensions in broad daylight. With the victory won by the FDP on e-fuels, Olaf Scholz hoped to reduce the feverishness of his most politically fragile partner. A condition for moving forward on other blockages within his government. The 2024 budget bill in particular is still in limbo.
Many reviews
“We will now work to get CO2 standards adopted for automotive regulations as soon as possible,” said Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the Green Deal.
The EU must now establish a provision – which would take the legal form of delegated acts – to classify cars running on e-fuels as carbon neutral. “We want this legislative process to be completed in the fall of 2024,” insisted Volker Wissing.
Italy, which joined Germany, considered that this agreement paved the way for the recognition of these synthetic fuels as zero emission technology. However, it has been the subject of numerous criticisms, including across the Rhine. Like economist member of the Council of Elders Veronika Grimm, automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer points to the high costs of producing synthetic fuels and their “frightening energy balance” due to the large amount of electricity needed to produce them.
The Chinese and Americans will widen the gap with the European industry in the electric car field due to the new investment uncertainties.
Ferdinand Dudenhöffer Automobile expert
According to him, the lack of professionalism of the European Commission, which had not taken seriously its initial commitments vis-à-vis Germany, weakens the chances of the EU to impose itself on the market of the electromobility by opening the door to the combustion engine wider.
Already, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner this weekend promised tax benefits in Germany for cars running on synthetic fuels. “The Chinese and the Americans will widen the gap with the European industry in the field of the electric car because of the new uncertainties in terms of investment”, concludes Ferdinand Dudenhöffer.
Parliament still has to decide
“The text is unchanged. The rule of 100% zero-emission cars in 2035 is maintained”, however assured Pascal Canfin, Renew Europe MEP, President of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament, one of the most virulent once morest the German volte-face.
He warned that he would closely monitor the “legality” of the future rules to be specified by the Commission and that he would ensure in particular that “the “100% e-fuel” criterion is well controllable and effective to avoid any break with our commitment to climate neutrality”.
For her part, Karima Delli, MP for Les Verts-ALE, denounced an “absolute scandal”. “Synthetic fuels are a false solution to achieving carbon neutrality,” she argued. Parliament having the power to block the future regulation, it is not excluded that this “saga” knows other twists.
