Germany sabotages EU ban on petrol cars at the last minute

The European Union wants to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035. The final decision should come this week, but Germany withdrew its support for the ban at the very last moment.

The problem is that Germany’s ruling party, FDP, has decided to reject the proposed law. Germany is now abstaining from the vote, because in the case of our eastern neighbors, the government must support an EU decision unanimously.

The vote on the ban has been postponed

The ban on the sale of new cars with petrol engines therefore finds too few supporters in Europe. The vote was supposed to take place this week but has now been postponed.

Other European member states are furious with Germany’s turnaround. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tried in vain to convince the federal government.

Exception for synthetic fuel

The European Parliament expressed its support for the ban on fuel cars in October. This week only the member states had to agree. Usually this is a formality. It almost never happens that a country withdraws permanently.

The FDP only wants to support the proposed ban on petrol and diesel cars if there is an exception for cars running on synthetic fuel. The European Commission has previously promised to look into this, but not in the short term.

The development of e-fuels is still in its infancy. Synthetic fuel is expensive and not yet produced in large quantities. Large amounts of electricity are required to produce e-fuel.

Germany is not alone in the resistance

Incidentally, Germany is not the only EU country where resistance to the fuel ban is growing. This is also happening in Italy. A survey by the broadcaster RTL shows that 68 percent of Germans are against it.

Politicians in Germany are very afraid to support anti-car measures. Almost a million people work in the country’s auto industry. The big manufacturers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and the Volkswagen Group – have a lot of power.