Kretschmer welcomes von der Leyen's e-fuels initiative

Dresden (dpa/sn) - Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) has welcomed the proposal by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) for exemptions for so-called e-fuels from the ban on combustion engines by 2035. "Our climate policy must be competitive, open to technology and limited to a framework," he said in a statement. "Otherwise, we will jeopardize our prosperity and public acceptance."

Kretschmer spoke of a good and important change of course for Germany and Europe. "In fact, we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to individual mobility - politicians don't know any better than the market and the tens of millions of drivers in the EU," said Kretschmer. The exemption for e-fuels could only be a first step.

In March 2023, the EU member states and the European Parliament sealed the end for new cars with diesel and petrol engines from 2035. In concrete terms, this means that new cars will no longer be allowed to emit carbon dioxide, which is produced during the combustion of petrol and diesel. At the urging of the FDP, the German government had campaigned for there to be exemptions for e-fuels - synthetic fuels that can theoretically be used to operate combustion engines in a climate-neutral way.

Von der Leyen in favor of a "technology-neutral approach"

The re-elected EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) recently announced an initiative for exemptions for e-fuels in her political policy program for the next five years. Specifically, it states that "a technology-neutral approach is required, in which e-fuels will play a role by specifically amending the regulations as part of the planned review". Von der Leyen is referring here to the review of the decision to phase out combustion engines, which is already planned for 2026.

Details on this push for a softening of the already decided EU-wide phase-out of combustion engines are still unclear. In a press conference following her re-election in the European Parliament, von der Leyen did not give a concrete answer to the question of whether private individuals will still be able to buy cars with combustion engines after 2035.