Europe fights over a ban on internal combustion engines
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Loading... - Mesi Osama
- 14 Mar 2023
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The fate of internal combustion engines in the coming decades has caused friction between European countries and will force the search for new approaches to balance emissions reduction and the interests of car manufacturers, writes Politico.
On Monday, the 13th of March, the community of car-friendly countries led by Germany heated up discussions in the fight against the European Union’s (EU) planned changes in the legislation, which envisages stopping the production of cars with internal combustion engines. It is part of the fight against climate change and efforts to reduce carbon emissions. After the meeting in Strasbourg, the ministers from the countries that support internal combustion engines indicated that the law, which has already been approved by the European Parliament and which the member states agreed in principle, needs changes. The law provides that after 2035, cars with internal combustion engines will no longer be sold in Europe.
Thus, two of the bloc’s countries with the largest number of cars have joined the group of smaller countries that have already committed to reducing emissions from passenger cars to zero.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told French media outlet France Info that he was ready to fight and that delaying the law would be a mistake.
On the opposite side, along with the German government, are Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, which are calling for some sort of backlash by allowing the use of synthetic fuel, a somewhat «greener» alternative to fossil fuels that can also be used in internal combustion engines. Together, these countries have enough power to veto new legislation.
The European Commission had planned to present a proposal that would tighten the wording of the law, but this angered Berlin, where the Transport Ministry is controlled by Transport Minister Volker Wissing’s car-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP). FDP believes that a potentially painful political issue has been touched upon. Read More…
