How the combustion dispute could be solved

Berlin, Brussels In a letter to the EU Commission, the Federal Ministry of Transport set out what a solution to the combustion engine dispute could look like. The planned EU law banning combustion engines is to be reinterpreted so that new diesel and petrol cars can continue to be registered.

Previously, the Commission had only proposed to specify the wording, according to which a loophole for new combustion cars should be created in the law, was heard in Brussels. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) was not satisfied with this.

According to Politico, the ministry’s proposal provides for the definition of CO2-neutral cars to be regulated in another law. This would have the advantage that the already negotiated law on fleet limits would not have to go through the EU Parliament again.

Members of the European Parliament had made it clear that they did not want to touch the law on fleet limits under any circumstances. After all, it has gone through all the steps of the lengthy negotiation process in the EU and should only be finally confirmed when Wissing stopped the process.

Wissing’s legal trick is possible because the law on fleet limits does not define what a CO2-neutral car is. Instead, the definition from the law on emissions standards is used, known as Euro 6. There, the regulations on so-called type approvals determine how a car’s CO2 emissions are calculated.

>> Read here: That’s what the e-fuel dispute is about – the most important questions and answers

The fleet limit values ​​deal with the emission of CO2, the emission standard with the emission of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. While the legislative process for new fleet limits is actually complete, the process for the new emissions standard has only just begun. The current Euro 6d standard is to be replaced by the new Euro 7 standard.

Commission had decided against loophole

“The regulations for type approvals are constantly changing. If vehicles powered by e-fuels are defined there as zero-emission vehicles, this will also have an effect on the regulation of fleet limits,” says Ralf Diemer, Managing Director of the E-Fuel Alliance, a lobby group in which oil traders and automotive suppliers have joined forces.

“It’s not the usual form of legislation, but it is possible in EU law to change the meaning of one law by provisions in another law,” confirms Julia Poliscanova from the organization Transport and Environment, which opposes the use of E -Fuels used in new cars.

>> Read here: Products made from CO2 – This is how the climate sinner becomes a valuable raw material

A type approval draft that was circulating last year even provided for a definition to be created for cars that run exclusively on CO2-neutral fuels. However, the corresponding paragraph was no longer included in the version of the document that was finally published. According to Diemer, EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton made the proposal, but Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans rejected it.

Two variants of the legal trick

According to the E-Fuel Alliance, there are two ways of changing the definition of CO2-neutral vehicles via type approvals.

On the one hand, a car manufacturer could bring a certain amount of e-fuels onto the market for each newly registered combustion engine, which roughly corresponds to the consumption of the car over its entire lifetime. These e-fuels would then be mixed with normal petrol or diesel. The newly registered car would use the same fuel mix as other cars, but would be treated as a zero-emissions vehicle.

This may be the solution that Wissing now has in mind. According to Politico, his proposal includes “some kind of credit system.” Technically, this could be implemented with manageable effort. But it would be legally complicated and would not correspond to what the FDP demands, what is in the coalition agreement and what is laid down in EU law.

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On the other hand, the new cars could be fitted with special filler necks that only fit special taps. Pure e-fuels should flow out of these taps at filling stations.

This system would be easy to implement legally, but all the more difficult technically. Among other things, a new infrastructure would have to be created at the gas stations. Also, it would be easy to circumvent using a simple funnel.

It is therefore extremely uncertain whether the EU Commission would agree to such proposals. The Greens in the European Parliament are backing the Commission. “The FDP doesn’t seem interested in a compromise,” says MP Rasmus Andresen. “My impression is that Volker Wissing would only be satisfied with changing the law himself. And of course that is not possible.”

From the Liberal faction, of which the FDP is also a member, came a dramatic appeal from the Swede Emma Wiesner at the beginning of the week. To make it clear to whom her words were addressed, she said in German: “Stop blocking key elements of our climate protection package, such as the end of the combustion engine.”

More: Which German branches of industry would benefit from e-fuels

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