German identity doesn't rely on cars Brussels should face down the mighty automakers

"There is something rather old-fashioned about the way Germany views its car industry. When the prime minister of Bavaria, Markus Soder, calls the car the destiny of Germany and the heart of its economy, and says that without the car, collapse is imminent, the vehicle he seems to be describing is one with a combustion engine, running on fossil fuels or their derivatives."

"Earlier this month, heads of European automotive companies gathered in the Berlaymont building, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, for a meeting with its president, Ursula von der Leyen. German car manufacturers came with two demands: to reverse the EU ban on the manufacture of new cars with CO2-emitting combustion engines that is due to come into force in 2035, and to loosen the annual quotas they have to meet for sales of electric vehicles between now and 2035."

"The car industry's campaign against the 2035 deadline is just one example of the backlash against EU green initiatives and legislation. Challenges from industry and agriculture have already led to the scrapping of a pesticides reduction law, the postponement of anti-deforestation regulation and the cancellation of specific reporting requirements for sectors that are most at risk of harming the environment."

Germany maintains a nostalgic attachment to combustion-engine vehicles, with political leaders framing cars as central to the national economy. European carmakers met the European Commission and demanded reversal of the 2035 ban on new CO2-emitting combustion-engine cars and looser electric-vehicle sales quotas. Media reports indicate possible allowances for hybrids or plug-in hybrids after 2035 and a December decision with some dilution likely. The car-industry campaign forms part of a broader backlash that has already weakened pesticide reduction, anti-deforestation, and environmental reporting proposals. A reversal of the 2035 ban would undermine climate goals, environmental protection, and stakeholders' interests.

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