The German government and the EU Commission reached agreement on the inclusion of internal combustion engines fueled by CO₂-neutral fuels—eFuels—late Friday evening. The agreement clears the way for the adoption of the 100% zero emissions limits for 2035. (Earlier post.)

Early in March, Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport Dr. Volker Wissing said that Germany would not agree to the proposed compromise between the EU Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to ban sales of new internal combustion engines by 2035 without such a carve-out for e-fuels. (Earlier post.)

Under the latest agreement, the Commission will make a proposal, allowing cars running only on e-fuels made with clean energy,to be registered within the Euro 6 vehicle type approval rules. The Commission will also present a statement setting out the legislative approach that will allow e-fuel-only cars to be registered after 2035.

In very detailed and constructive negotiations, we have succeeded in ensuring the element of technology neutrality within the framework of the regulation of fleet limits.

Concrete procedural steps and a concrete timetable were bindingly fixed. In a first step, a vehicle category fuel-only is to be created and then integrated into the fleet limit regulation. We want the process to be completed by autumn 2024.

—Dr. Volker Wissing