A last-minute deal in Berlin paved the way for approval of the EU’s 2040 target of cutting heavy vehicle emissions by 90% in return for a provision for e-fuel vehicles.
Starting in 2035, Europe will ban the sale of new cars with conventional gasoline and diesel engines. Similar rules for heavy vehicles, setting a 90% emissions reduction by 2040, were agreed by the European Parliament and EU countries in informal negotiations in January.
Formal approval is usually a formality and was expected to be obtained on February 7 at a meeting of ambassadors. A last-second blockade in Berlin, sparked by the government’s liberal Liberal Party (FDP) which was unhappy with the January agreement, forced Germany to abstain from the vote – putting the law in jeopardy due to similar concerns in countries such as Italy and the Czech Republic.
Finally, the vote was postponed until Friday afternoon. After reaching a last-minute agreement, Germany will vote yes, according to sources in the German government. The Ministry of Transport confirmed the agreement to Euractive. In return, the FDP gets a special exemption clause, making way for heavy vehicles powered by synthetic fuels – known as e-fuels.
While e-fuels, which can be climate neutral when composed of green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide, are more climate friendly than fossil fuels, tailpipe emissions – the data point of interest to Brussels – do not change. The special exception clause fixes that “loophole” and would be in a non-binding recitation.
The saga is reminiscent of a similar disruption in 2023, when Germany’s liberal transport minister, Volker Vissing, halted the agreed-upon 2035 ban on gasoline and diesel engines. In the end, he obtained a provision for “electronic fuel” for passenger vehicles in exchange for lifting the blockade.
German government coalitions traditionally abstain from voting in the EU when a common government position cannot be reached – allowing even the smallest partner to force the largest country in the bloc to abstain.
Given the EU’s voting rules – a successful vote in favor must represent 55% of countries and 65% of the bloc’s population at the same time – when a country with a hefty population like Germany abstains, overturning laws becomes less difficult.
If Germany is eliminated by abstention, this opens the way for other EU countries that are unhappy with a particular law – but neither have the political weight nor the population size – to make major changes.
Other major countries tend to seize this opportunity when appropriate. In the case of cars and trucks, it is Italy – home to some manufacturers – that has threatened to build on Germany’s potential abstention in order to effectively “kill” the law.
