“We must not shift this objective”, warns Bruno Le Maire who is “ready to go to the showdown” with Germany

“We must not shift this objective”warns Monday, March 13 on franceinfo the Minister ofEeconomy Bruno Le Maire, while several recalcitrant European ministers at the end of the sale of new thermal engine vehicles in 2035 meet Monday in Strasbourg. Last week, Germany refused to vote on a text of the 27 EMember States ratifying the ban on the sale of combustion-powered cars from 2035. An about-turn by Berlin when the text had already been the subject of an agreement in October between the 27 and the European Parliament, then approved mid- February by MEPs.

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“We are ready to go to arm wrestling on this subject because it is an environmental fault, assures the Minister ofEeconomy. I also think it’s an economic fault. because we are five to ten years behind on the electric vehicle compared to China, we have to work twice as hard”. According to the minister, “we must invest twice in electric batteries (…) in electric vehicles to catch up”.

“We cannot say that there is a climate emergency and back down on the objective of switching to electric cars.”

Bruno the Mayor

on franceinfo

“I can’t tell our two major manufacturers Stellantis and Renault, who made the courageous choice to switch to electric: wait, we’re finally going to go electric but we’re still going to stay a little thermal”, argues Bruno Le Maire. Berlin has indeed asked the European Commission to issue a compromise proposal opening the way to vehicles operating both with batteries but also with “e-fuels”, that is to say synthetic fuels operating by heat engines. “Economically, it’s inconsistent, industrially, it’s dangerous. It’s not our national interest and it’s not the interest of our national manufacturers and above all, it’s not the interest of the planet “slice Bruno Le Maire for whom “France must be at the forefront of the climate fight”.