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BRUSSELS — As European Union leaders exit their summit Friday, the future of the cars that’ll whisk them home is still very much at play, with a seemingly imminent deal between Berlin and Brussels delayed once again.
That’s because resolving a row over the EU’s plan to ban new combustion engine car sales by 2035 hangs on whether the European Commission and Germany can agree on language that will satisfy both sides.
Berlin, along with several allies, has held the previously agreed legislation hostage, demanding that the Commission carve out a loophole to allow sales of some traditional combustion-engine vehicles after 2035 as long as they run on synthetic fuels, or e-fuels — which are, in theory, carbon-neutral.
On Thursday evening, the German government presented the Commission with a pre-written legal declaration in which the EU executive would promise to find a legal path for allowing the sale of these vehicles past 2035. And early Friday morning, the Commission responded with what one German government official said were just moderate changes to the draft declaration — seemingly paving the way for a deal.
Germany’s transport minister, Volker Wissing, was primed to announce a breakthrough in Mainz, the capital of his home state, at 2 p.m., allowing EU ambassadors to grant their approval during a scheduled policy meeting in Brussels starting at 3 p.m. That would set things up so that the 2035 legislation could finally get its stamp of approval from energy ministers next Tuesday and become law.
But like most long journeys, things didn’t go according to the initial route plan, and prospects for a rapid deal buckled under the complexity of the legal acrobatics necessary to satisfy Germany’s demands.
Two officials, one in Berlin and one in Brussels, say the haggling is down to legal language — and how to create this carve-out on a sound legal basis. The Commission has offered to set up a new regulatory lane for combustion engine cars running exclusively on e-fuels as part of its standing Euro 6 law — one of Berlin’s key asks. Germany wants some extra clarifications around the technology needed to make sure cars can only run on synthetic alternatives to petrol and diesel.
But the Commission faces a tougher time giving Berlin guarantees that it can pass annex legislation to the 2035 zero-emissions car legislation expanding the remit to include e-fuels. The German government is insisting on that assurance to lift its roadblock.
Two EU diplomats working on the file say they fear such a move would be open to challenge from the European Parliament and the courts, as the Commission doesn’t have a mandate to reopen or expand the core legislation enshrining the 2035 zero-emissions targets for car and van sales.
“We have held very intensive talks and are now in the process of reaching a concrete agreement,” Wissing told German television Thursday afternoon. “We need to clarify where and how the element of technological neutrality and thus the continued approval of the internal combustion engine after 2035 will be incorporated into European law. And we are negotiating this issue in great detail.”
Further complicating the situation, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said while leaving the summit that she was committed to securing her own fix for biofuels.
“There has been a convergence between us and Germany in saying: Electric vehicles are not the only option, there are other options — hydrogen, chemical fuels — which should be looked into,” said Meloni.
That heaps further pressure on the Commission to make the car engine loophole work for its biggest auto players.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz struck a note of optimism following a bilateral with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, a staunch defender of the 2035 legislation, which was agreed under the French presidency of the Council last year.
“I know that journalism is part of [the] entertainment business, and you don’t like to see us agree,” said Scholz at the close of the summit. “But we will find an agreement.”
Leaving the summit, Macron said Scholz “was very very clear, there is no backtracking” on the ambitions of the 2035 legislation. “So without reopening the trilogues, we are looking for technical options to provide an answer.”
Gabriel Rinaldi contributed reporting.
