Germany’s conservatives double down on criticism of EU’s planned 2035 combustion engine phase-out

(Clean Energy Wire, 22 Apr 2024) Politicians from Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance have reinforced their criticism of the planned end of new registrations of combustion engine cars in the EU by 2035.

Bavaria’s state premier, Markus Söder from the Christian Socialist Union (CSU), told newspaper Bild that “the end for combustion engines by 2035 is wrong and therefore has to be taken back.” Söder said “retiring a functioning technology and leaving it to other countries is absurd.” Instead of introducing bans “we must allow and support” technologies to flourish, Söder argued. He added that the government should re-introduce its buyer’s premium for electric cars.

Julia Klöckner, economic policy spokesperson for the parliamentary faction of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the CSU’s sister party, told newspaper Die Welt: “I think it is wrong to make a one-sided decision and prohibit a technology for which there is not yet an adequate replacement.” She argued that combustion engines could be made to run on climate-neutral fuel. “But if policymakers don’t even begin to consider such a development in their laws, why should anyone in Europe start research into it,” Klöckner said, adding that “it would be right to prohibit the prohibition of combustion engines.

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Clean Energy Wire, 22 Apr 2024: Germany’s conservatives double down on criticism of EU’s planned 2035 combustion engine phase-out