Following an EU proposal to relax new CO2 emission limits for cars, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has warned the country’s carmakers against relying too heavily on combustion engines.

Car manufacturers should not misread the proposal, Klingbeil told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung in remarks published on Saturday.

If companies believe they can continue to depend on diesel and petrol vehicles for years to come, he said, “their difficulties will be all the greater in a few years.”

The shift to electric mobility, he stressed, must continue “at high speed.”

“The future of mobility is electric,” he added.

Klingbeil pointed to growing international competition, saying visits to Beijing and Shanghai had shown him how far ahead China already was, not least because of strong government support for the transition. Germany’s carmakers, he said, therefore have catching up to do.

The minister described the Brussels proposal as a workable compromise. It offered a more flexible path towards climate neutrality, he said, for example by allowing hybrid vehicles to remain on the market for longer.

Acting pragmatically, Klingbeil added, meant that protecting jobs and protecting the climate did not have to be mutually exclusive.

The European Commission earlier this week revised its plans for a strict phase-out of combustion engines. Under the updated proposal, new cars with combustion engines would still be allowed to be registered after 2035.

Previously, negotiators from EU member states and the European Parliament had agreed that new cars sold from 2035 should emit no climate-damaging CO2. That goal of a full emissions reduction is now being relaxed.

In future, exemptions would allow emissions cuts of up to 90% compared with 2021 levels, provided remaining emissions are offset through measures such as the use of sustainably produced steel and more climate-friendly fuels.

Source: dpa.com