An alliance comprising Germany, Italy, several Eastern European nations, and now Austria, has been established to resist the scheduled phase-out of internal combustion engines by 2035. They intend to present their own proposal in opposition to the existing one.
Transport ministers from Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Germany held a meeting on Monday (13 March) to discuss modifications to the European Union’s scheme.
“The proposal requires immediate revisions,” remarked German transport minister Volker Wissing on Monday.
Wissing added: “A ban on the combustion engine, when it can run in a climate-neutral way, seems a wrong approach for us.”
Earlier this month, the CO2 law – the primary mechanism employed by the EU to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles – was suspended following last-minute objections from Germany. This caught policymakers in Brussels and other EU member states off guard, as the European Parliament and EU countries had already reached an agreement on the legislation in the previous year.
Sources www.reuters.com www.autoblog.com
