Although not officially on the agenda, the issue of Germany's reversal on the issue of ending sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles in 2035 (EUROPE 13134/1) was discussed by the heads of state and government of the EU member states at the European Council on Thursday, March 23.
As a reminder, Berlin had made its support for the political agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the subject (EUROPE 13121/13) conditional on the presentation by the European Commission of a proposal allowing e-fuels - supposed to be carbon neutral - after 2035. This pressure from the German government prompted the European Commission to begin work on a draft delegated act to allow these types of fuels (EUROPE 13147/8).
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed that negotiations were continuing with Berlin. "There is the will on both sides to resolve this topic, and to resolve it within the scope of the provisional agreement that has been found between Council and Parliament. This include technology neutrality. Time is of the essence in this case as this file is an important pillar of our ‘Fit for 55’ package and therefore we intensified the talks and I’m confident that we soon will find a good solution," she commented after the first day of the European Council.
Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appeared confident before meeting his counterparts. "We are on the right track," he said. “It is always good to honour your own commitments. The promise, in a recital, is that there must be a Commission proposal on e-fuels. And there will be one", he added, echoing the fact that the Commission has started work on a draft delegated act allowing e-fuels after 2035.
"I think the Commission will come up with a solution, which will be to keep the existing package but add something specific, a fairly small car category. More importantly, it's the package we have. It will be an additional element, it does not change the choice in relation to electric cars," said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who nevertheless felt, before the start of the European Council, that there was no need to "change the strategy" towards the electrification of transport.
For several Member States, the important thing seemed to be to save the overall objective and the deadlines, even if it meant making compromises. On the eve of the European Council, for example, France did not completely close the door to a compromise. "We do not want to reopen the text that has been agreed by the Council, the European Parliament and a trialogue. But we also do not want to return to the date of 2035, which is obviously the most important object of these agreements," had announced the Élysée.
"We can support the agreement as it was. But each country still has the right, until the final decisions have been taken, to express its particular concerns about a future agreement. (...) We can compromise, there is an idea from the European Commission within the agreement, we can find an agreement. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the coming days," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
During the bilateral discussions that took place during the day, the German chancellor was also able to benefit from the support of other heads of state and government who share the ambition of integrating e-fuels into the text, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"We are on the front line in the sense that the thesis we continue to support is this, and we will reiterate it: if we share the objectives of the transition, we do not believe that the EU should also be responsible for establishing which technologies should be used to achieve those objectives," she insisted.
While a solution could be found in the coming days, several member states deplored the fact that Germany has called into question an agreement already formally adopted by the European Parliament. "The whole European decision-making architecture would collapse if we all acted like this," insisted Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins. (Thomas Mangin with the editorial staff)