Ambassadors from 27 EU countries have approved a ban on internal combustion engines in new cars from 2035 as Germany lifted its veto in exchange for an exemption for future synthetic fuels.

The text stipulates that new cars will not emit CO2, effectively banning gasoline-powered cars, Sweden, which holds the European Union Presidency, has announced.

The text will be included in the agenda of tomorrow’s meeting of energy ministers for official approval, the president said.

This regulatory framework is the basis of the European plan to combat climate change and the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Berlin veto

Berlin surprised European partners in early March by blocking at the last minute a regulation that was supposed to zero CO2 emissions from new cars, forcing de facto 100% electric motors from the middle of the next decade.

The text became the subject of an agreement between the Member States and the negotiators of the European Parliament under the “green” light of Germany and was approved in mid-February at the plenary meeting of the European Parliament.

To justify the switch, which is extremely rare at this stage of the process, Germany asked the Commission to submit a proposal that would pave the way for synthetic fuel vehicles.

This technology, which is still under development, is to produce fuel from CO2 emitted by industrial activities. The technology is backed by German and Italian car manufacturers and extends the use of heat engines beyond 2035.

In recent weeks, the European Commission has been negotiating a way out of the crisis with Germany, which has called for tougher commitments on synthetic fuels that were mentioned in the original text but were not considered binding.

The European Commission and Germany announced on Saturday that they had reached an agreement to lift the EU’s blockade plan. on CO2 emissions from cars, easing the ban on heat engines after 2035.

“We have reached an agreement with Germany on the future use of synthetic fuels in cars,” European Commissioner for the Environment Frans Timmermans said on Twitter today.

“Going forward, we will work to adopt a regulatory framework for CO2 emission regulations in cars as soon as possible,” he added.

Dubious technology

“Vehicles equipped with an internal combustion engine will be able to operate after 2035 if they use carbon neutral fuel,” German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said on Twitter.

Synthetic fuel technology is contested by environmental NGOs, who see it as costly, energy-consuming and polluting.

Many automotive experts doubt that it will be able to compete with electric vehicles, whose prices will fall in the coming years.

The veto of the text of the Commission from Berlin was an initiative of the liberals of the FDP.

This small party, which polls about 5% of the vote, has lost five consecutive local elections. He hopes to counter environmentalists as a political force by taking on the role of car advocate and betting on the negative attitude of a significant part of the German population towards a ban on heat engines.

In order to ensure the unity of his ruling coalition, Chancellor Olaf Soltz chose to support the position of the FDP.

The industry, for its part, taking the European vehicle regulatory framework for granted, has invested heavily in electric vehicles.

Even if synthetic fuels, which do not currently exist, are introduced, “in the medium term they will not play a significant role in the share of personal cars,” Markus Nussmann, head of Audi (Volkswagen Group), told Spiegel magazine.