Car industry: Bundesrat calls for rapid review of combustion engine ban

On Friday, the Federal Council Bundesrat passed a resolution on the initiative of the Saarland to support the automotive industry and thereby secure Germany as a business location. In it, it calls for the existing or previously planned relevant legal framework conditions to be readjusted. In particular, the "currently further inhibited ramp-up of electromobility" makes it necessary to "adapt the regulations provided for this at EU level to the current economic reality and current consumer behavior".

According to the resolution, the EU decision to no longer allow new cars that run on diesel or petrol from 2035 is a thorn in the side of the federal state chamber. This should therefore be reviewed as early as 2025. To date, the corresponding regulation stipulates that the requirements for the so-called end of combustion engines will be put to the test in 2026. The Federal Council is therefore aiming to "promptly adapt the previous regulation". The targets for heavy commercial vehicles are to be reconsidered in 2026.

The federal states are also critical of "the fact that the European CO2 fleet limit value is to be reduced by a further, abrupt step on January 1, 2025". For car manufacturers, this means that the average CO2 emissions of their vehicles will have to fall. Combustion engines must therefore become more economical. Alternatively, manufacturers in the EU could also sell more electric cars. If an individual limit value is exceeded, there is a threat of severe penalties. The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) fears that the industry could face levies of up to 15 billion euros.

No penalties for breaching CO2 fleet targets

The fines in the billions associated with non-compliance with the CO2 fleet targets "would hit European and German car manufacturers hard in the current difficult economic situation and transformation, and indirectly also their suppliers", the Federal Council points out. It is therefore calling on the German government to insist at European level that "the planned fines for non-compliance with the CO2 fleet targets for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2025 be suspended". The three federal states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony, where large automotive groups are based, had already made a strong case for this during the week.

"The automotive and supplier industry is the most important branch of industry in Germany", the Bundestag explained its initiative. "It secures over 770,000 jobs nationwide and is therefore a key pillar of Germany as a business location." In the course of global developments, the transformation to sustainable drive technologies is still "a necessary prerequisite" for ensuring that value creation and jobs remain in Germany in the future and are not relocated to other regions of the world. However, this process must be shaped in such a way "that there are no further avoidable disruptions, market losses or job losses".

The automotive industry must be given "the safest possible market environment as a bridge to e-mobility", the report continues. This is the only way it can "continue to develop towards a sustainable model range in the existing portfolio and with a reliable market option for existing drive technologies". The controversial plug-in hybrids in particular could "play an important role as an established bridging technology". However, the German government was already forced to admit in 2019 that new cars with battery operation and a combustion engine were contributing decreasingly to climate protection because emissions values and electric ranges were deteriorating again.

Von der Leyen's vague e-fuels pledges

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) actually wants to stick to the timetable for the "combustion engine phase-out". However, at the insistence of the FDP, the German government has already called for exemptions for e-fuels as part of the EU regulation. The compromise reached in 2023 provides for the creation of a new "e-fuels only" vehicle category as a first step. This means that such cars will only be allowed to burn synthetic fuels. Manufacturers must technically ensure that such vehicles do not start at all if they are still fueled with petrol or diesel after 2035. The fleet limit regulation is also intended to ensure that the pure e-fuels class can contribute to the EU's CO2 reduction targets and the desired climate neutrality.

Von der Leyen announced an initiative for synthetic fuels in her political policy program for the new EU legislative period. Specifically, it states that "a technology-neutral approach is required in which e-fuels will play a role by making targeted changes to the regulations as part of the planned review". This refers to 2026 and not a year earlier. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expressed his satisfaction with the assurances given by the Commission President, as there will be several technical options for climate-neutral driving.

(nie)