Informal discussions continued between the heads of state and government of the Member States on Friday 24 March at a European Council meeting on the issue of the end of combustion engines by 2035 (see EUROPE 13148/6).
Finding a compromise on the issue now seems to be the preferred option between the Member States and the Commission in an attempt to end the controversy triggered by Germany’s last-minute blocking of the formal adoption of the agreement on this dossier and to preserve the objectives set out in the inter-institutional negotiations.
As a reminder, the German government announced on 27 February that it would only support the agreement - already adopted by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13121/13) - if the Commission introduced the possibility of using e-fuels after 2035.
“There is no German request to call into question the agreement we have for 2035, but a desire to preserve ‘e-fuels’, as was the case in our declarations a year ago (...) That is our objective and, in this context, without reopening the trilogue, to be able to find technical means to provide the response to our joint declaration”, summarised French President Emmanuel Macron, after the European Council.
“I think the Commission will come up with a solution which will be to keep the existing package, but to add something specific, a rather smaller category of cars, something little. The most important thing is not to change the package”, said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo after the first day of the European Council.
For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also confirmed at the European Council that discussions with Berlin were “intensifying” in order to “reach a solution within the framework of the agreement reached between the Parliament and the Council of the EU”. This could take the form of a delegated act, on which the Commission is currently working, to allow e-fuels (see EUROPE 13147/8).
The German reversal has pleased several other Member States that opposed the text, such as Italy, which would have liked to see biofuels added to the list of permitted energies.
“The part [on vehicle combustion engines] is by no means lost. There is a convergence between Germany and Italy on not saying that there is only the all-electric option. There are other options: hydrogen, biofuels, chemical fuels - that need to be explored. We will demonstrate that biofuels can be a zero-emission option”, said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)