By Chris Ward, June 24, 2022
Germany is the most powerful country in the EU, it is fair to say that the EU is Germany and Germany is the EU. The European Parliament recently voted to uphold the ban on combustion engine cars, effective from 2035. In regards to the ban, Germany has always spoken out of both sides of its mouth. The German car industry has a lot of persuasion within government, and a lot of jobs are at risk once the combustion engine car ban comes into effect.
Germany’s Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, stated this week that his country would not agree to the ban. Linder further elaborated that there would continue to be niches for the continuation of combustion engine cars after 2035.
The European Union ratified the proposals to reduce car industry C02 emissions by 100 percent by 2035 at the beginning of June. The motion effectively bans the production of new combustion engine cars. Germany has a history of scuppering emissions targets to protect its car manufacturing industry.
Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen are lobbying politicians hard behind the scenes to prevent the ban of combustion engines from 2035. Lobbying effectively means buying political capital either through campaign contributions or a promise of future jobs at the corporate board level.
At the same time, the German car industry is investing a lot of money into marketing a socially conscious, environmentally responsible image. The reality is that the German car industry would prefer to sell both combustion engine cars and battery electric vehicle alternatives after 2035.
