The blockade of the German Government has forced this Friday the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, held by Sweden, to remove from the agenda of the meeting of ministers next Tuesday the final approval of the legislation that will prohibit the sale of vehicles with motors combustion from 2035 in the European Union.
The package, one of the most ambitious, but also controversial in the legislature, was and is practically closed, but Germany has carried its reservations to the end, blocking approval. Italy, Hungary or Poland, among others, also have problems, but they need Olaf Scholz’s veto if they want to stop the process, because the blocking minority requires at least four countries and that they represent a very important weight of the continent’s population.
The general idea is that from 2035 combustion vehicles cannot be marketed, not even hybrids, with some exceptions for luxury brands, whose production is very small. What has been called the ‘Ferrari Amendment’, due to enormous pressure from the Italian government. Berlin, however, wants guarantees that there will be the possibility of leaving out of the ban cars that use CO2-free solutions, such as synthetic fuels or e-fuels, obtained from renewable energies and not fossil fuels.
During negotiations in recent years, the European Commission agreed to study an additional legislative proposal on synthetic fuels, which seemed to satisfy the demands of the powerful German industry. However, on the eve of the last step for the ratification of the entire package, Berlin says that Ursula von der Leyen has not done what she promised. And they want much clearer guarantees.
It is impossible to guarantee that what the producers want will go ahead, because the Commission can launch a proposal for a directive, but then it must follow a very long and complicated process, and in little more than a year there will be European elections again. Scholz, however, could be content with a public commitment, a political statement, or some kind of letter of intent.
To give time for Brussels and Berlin to understand each other, the Swedish presidency has decided to postpone the decision of the ministers, because with the capitals that have demonstrated for the moment against the measure, it would not go ahead in a vote. “Coreper I has decided to postpone the decision on vehicle emissions in 2035 scheduled for the meeting on March 7 until later. The ambassadors will return to address the issue later,” the Swedish spokesperson reported.
Very simplified, the decision-making system in the European Union starts with a proposal from the European Commission. The European Parliament then sets its position on the issue, with discussions in the appropriate committees. And the Council, the national governments, do the same. Maintaining or altering the initial content, raising or lowering thresholds, reducing or triggering ambition. The three parties then begin to negotiate directly, in what is known as trilogues, until they reach a consensus. And then the European Parliament must ratify what has been achieved in plenary session and the national governments must do the same at ministerial level, in the appropriate Council as well. And only then is it published in the EU Bulletin.
The European Parliament gave its green light a few months ago, but the Council has not yet done so due to these reservations. It is very unusual that the result of the trilogues does not translate into a ratification, although there may be some fringe or minor detail. The vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, is working with the German technicians and his embassy. And President Von der Leyen will go to Berlin this Sunday to try to resolve the dispute in a bilateral meeting with the chancellor.
Countries like Italy, Hungary, Poland or the Czech Republic also have their different reserves; Giorgia Meloni’s government has been especially critical, despite achieving the exemptions he sought for his elite manufacturers. But on their own they do not carry enough weight to prevent the package from being adopted by a qualified majority.
They have raised their voices, denouncing that the veto from 2035 on combustion engines is suicide, that jobs will be lost, but largely for reasons of national politics and knowing that it is very complicated, at this point and after all. the formalities done, that really nothing can be stopped.
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