Teresa RiberaThird Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge of Spain, has criticized Germany’s decision to break the consensus reached a few months ago regarding the objective of the European Union to ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines on the market common from the year 2035.
According to Ribera, Germany may have laid a dangerous precedent in carrying out this move, since forcing the proposal to be modified at the last minute after having previously supported the measure could alter the way in which the bloc elaborates its policies, sending mixed signals to investors and industry.
«It’s disappointing. What happens if other governments decide to do something similar with any other issue? The rules of procedure are for everyone ». Germany, backed by Italy, is negotiating with the European Commission an exemption for vehicles that run on synthetic fuels.
Spain is currently the second largest car producer in Europe, only behind Germany. Through the different calls of the PERTE (Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation) of the Electric and Connected Vehiclewhose endowment comes from European Next Generation funds, the Government is trying to promote the transformation of the sector so that it adapts to the new reality of the market.
Spain is the second largest car producer in Europe
Groups like Ford either Volkswagen have confirmed that they will convert their Spanish factories into centers dedicated to the production of electric vehicles, while others such as Mercedes Benz either stellantis They already manufacture models of this type in their plants. The only company in doubt is Renaultwhich at the moment only assembles hybrids and plug-in hybrids in our country.
Ribera affirms that the European Commission should not delay its final decision. The minister, who attributes Germany’s decision to the internal conflicts of the coalition led by Olaf Schölzbelieves that this debate should be resolved separately, as the European Union has yet to assess the impact of synthetic fuels on community emissions targets.
“They may have an internal political difficulty, but now they have exported that difficulty to the whole of the European Union”. The voting of the norm, which It was to be held on March 7.has been postponed indefinitely for fear that Germany will abstain.
Source | Automotive News Europe
