By Tom Sims and Kate Abnett
FRANKFURT/BRUSSELS, March 25 (Reuters) – The European Union and Germany have reached an agreement on the future use of combustion engines, official sources said on Saturday, a matter that has been closely watched by the auto industry.
The deal will allow some combustion engines beyond 2035 and was quickly condemned by a leading environmental group.
The bloc and its largest economy had been at odds over a planned 2035 phase-out of CO2-emitting cars, but the parties signaled in recent days that they were close to a resolution.
Germany wanted guarantees that the new combustion-engined cars could be sold beyond the deadline if they ran on e-fuels, a request supported by the powerful industry of the sector at the local level.
“We have reached an agreement with Germany on the future use of e-fuels in cars,” Frans Timmermans, head of EU climate policy, said on Twitter.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said “the way is clear” with the deal reached late on Friday.
“Internal combustion engine vehicles will be able to continue to be registered after 2035 if they exclusively refuel with CO2-neutral fuels,” he said in a message on Twitter.
Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said EU diplomats would vote on Monday to formally approve the 2035 phase-out law. Thus, energy ministers could give the final go-ahead to the law to to enter into force on Tuesday, at a meeting scheduled in Brussels.
Benjamin Stephan of Greenpeace has declared that the agreement is a setback for climate protection. “This stinking compromise undermines climate protection in transport and hurts Europe.” (Reporting by Tom Sims and Kate Abnett. Editing in Spanish by Javier Leira)
Source: Ambito
