This measure should in principle be imposed on all countries of the European Union, with a view to a switch to all-electric.
To everyone’s surprise, Berlin refuses to vote on the text which prohibits the sale of combustion engine cars from 2035. This refusal comes at a time when Germany has nevertheless set itself ambitious climate objectives. To keep them, the country plans to put into circulation, by 2030, 15 million all-electric cars, against 1 million today.
>> Climate: why is Germany putting a brake on the vote on the ban on the sale of combustion engine cars in the EU in 2035?
For the moment, we are still far from it. According to a specialized firm, it would be necessary to register 5,000 new electric cars per day, against 1,290 on average today. Germany’s refusal to ban the sale of thermal engine cars from 2035 will not speed things up.
In the crosshairs of environmental activists, there is in particular the Minister of Transport, member of the liberal FDP party, Volker Wissing (his initials VW may remind you of the name of a large German car manufacturer). Its opponents accuse it of being more concerned with building highways than with soft mobility.
These tensions threaten the ruling coalition
This is indeed a subject of additional disagreement which further weakens the already precarious balance of the coalition. The Minister of Transport is a member of the FDP, the smallest of the three partners. The party is in free fall in the polls and has had a string of electoral setbacks. He is looking for a second wind, regardless of the agreements reached with the SPD and the Greens, the two other partners.
The FDP is freeing itself from this, even if it means jeopardizing the government’s climate objectives and forgetting to develop alternatives to the car, responsible for 20% of CO2 emissions in Germany. Because if some demonize the car, others set it up as an icon of freedom. And the Minister of Transport is one of them. Seven out of ten motorists say they cannot do without a car. Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW… It must be said that the biggest manufacturers are German. Here, the number of cars has jumped 20% in 15 years. There are 580 per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to 480 in France.
The alternative, beyond cycling, is public transport and the train, but their punctuality is uncertain. Only six out of ten trains are on time in the country. Massive and costly modernization work is underway to try to attract travelers back to rail.