“Unfortunately, the EU Commission has not taken any steps to seriously examine exceptions for combustion engines that only run on eco-fuel in its ban plans,” criticized Lindner. “It is also unlikely that the Commission will do in the next few days what it has not done for months.”
Lindner’s party colleague, Federal Defense Minister Volker Wissing, had previously threatened to veto the EU plans. He demands that combustion engines that can be operated with so-called e-fuels be exempted from the ban. E-fuels are produced using electricity. If this comes from renewable sources, the vehicle can theoretically be operated in a climate-neutral manner. However, the technology is considered expensive and inefficient.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens), on the other hand, insisted on Wednesday that Germany finally approve the EU plans that had already been agreed. Your party colleague Anton Hofreiter now demanded a word of power from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) against Wissing. “I also expect the Chancellery to do everything in its power to ensure that Germany does not block Brussels in the interests of jobs and climate protection,” said the chairman of the Bundestag’s Europe Committee to the “Tagesspiegel” (Thursday edition).
