Just three weeks ago, the European Parliament definitively approved the marketing of diesel, petrol and hybrid cars and vans from 2035. There was one final step to be taken before ratification could be finalized: the Twenty-seven of the deal was closed in late October by Council negotiators and the European Parliament, and was ratified two weeks later by the EU’s permanent ambassadors, with the sole Polish opposition and Bulgaria abstaining. A last hurdle He said that they have not been able to overcome for now after the last minute reluctance expressed by countries such as. Italy and above all, Germany. The final vote, scheduled for next week, has been postponed without a date.
The deal had to be ratified during the EU Council of Ministers scheduled for 7 March. At a meeting of the EU’s 27 ambassadors this Friday, the Swedish Council Presidency confirmed that there was not enough consensus for the rule to move forward and chose to delay the decision. “Coreper I – the permanent ambassadors – has decided to postpone the decision, scheduled for 7 March, to a next meeting of the Council,” said Daniel Holmberg, spokesperson for Sweden. “Ambassadors will take up the matter when the time comes,” he said, without setting a date for the decision.
The German transport minister has seen the need to postpone the vote since last Monday to avoid the rejection of the new law. volker wissingThe leader of the Liberal Free Democrats party announced Berlin’s change of stance at an informal meeting of EU transport ministers in Stockholm. Meanwhile, the European Commission announced that Germany would abstain from the final vote unless it authorizes its use. synthetic fuels (e-fuels) on new vehicles with internal combustion engines after 2035.
The transport minister, whose coalition government is divided on the issue, now claims that these are green, hydrogen-derived fuels that are carbon neutral and can be burned in a combustion engine, theoretically allowing the sale of diesel or petrol vehicles. This is what the German liberal party advocates against the Greens’ position, which supports the deal negotiated and ratified at the end of last year.