Lars Klingbeil. Credit: Juliane Sonntag/AFP/Profimedia
After the EU's proposal to relax the new limits on CO2 emissions for cars, the German Minister of Finance, Lars Klingbeil, warned the country's car manufacturers not to be too dependent on combustion engines, reports DPA, taken over by Agerpres.
German automakers should not misinterpret the proposal. If companies believe they can continue to depend on gasoline and diesel cars in the coming years, “their difficulties will be even greater in a few years,” Klingbeil said in an interview with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Saturday.
He explained that the transition to electric mobility must continue at a rapid pace. “The future of mobility is electric,” added the German official.
Klingbeil drew attention to increasing international competition, as visits to Beijing and Shanghai showed him how advanced China is, not least because of significant government support for the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Therefore, said the German Minister of Finance, the country's car manufacturers must catch up with their Chinese competitors.
The minister described the Brussels proposal as a workable compromise, offering a more flexible path to climate neutrality, allowing hybrid vehicles to stay on the market longer.
Germany is the largest European car market and has the strongest car industry in the EU. Officials in Berlin have long been pushing for the relaxation of regulations on CO2 emissions.
This week, the European Commission gave up on requiring car manufacturers to switch to fully electric vehicles by 2035, a flagship measure of the “Green Deal”, in response to the crisis facing the sector in Europe.
Manufacturers will be able to continue to sell a limited number of new cars equipped with internal combustion engines or hybrids after this deadline, provided that several conditions are met, including offsetting the CO2 emissions resulting from these flexibilities, the European Commission clarified.
Current EU rules require that all new cars and vans, starting in 2035, have zero emissions. According to the proposal of the Community Executive, the objective would change to a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to 2021 levels, instead of 100%.
The relaxation of regulations comes after the European Union decided in 2022 that, starting from 2035, new cars sold in the EU bloc will no longer be allowed to emit carbon dioxide (CO2). This would have meant that new cars equipped with internal combustion engines will no longer be able to be registered.
