EU’s combustion engine ban meets fierce opposition from Germany

According to information from "Bild am Sonntag," the EU Commission is planning a ban on combustion engines for car-sharing companies and company fleets starting in 2030. This would affect 60 percent of the new car market, the newspaper reported, citing EU sources.

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The EU Commission plans to restrict rental car providers and company cars to purchase emission-free vehicles, such as electric cars, starting in 2030. The Commission plans to present corresponding plans in late summer. The EU Council and the EU Parliament would then have to approve them. The EU confirmed that a new regulation is being worked on. A spokesperson declined to comment on details. 

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The German Federal Ministry of Transport has announced its opposition to such plans. "We strongly reject this and have also communicated our negative stance to car rental companies," a spokesperson for Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder's (CDU) department told the AFP news agency on Sunday. "We are committed to ensuring that this does not happen."

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The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) also criticized the EU plans. "We firmly reject this new regulatory offensive," VDA President Hildegard Müller told the Funke Media Group newspapers on Sunday. Rather, improvements to the framework conditions are needed.

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This is especially true with regard to charging infrastructure. "Almost 60 percent of all charging points in the EU are located in Germany, France, and the Netherlands," said Müller. Hamburg, for example, has more charging points than Slovakia or Bulgaria. Setting goals is one thing, enabling their achievement is another. "And this is where the EU now has a duty," demanded the VDA President. 

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Tilman Kuban, a CDU member of the Bundestag, accused the EU Commission of being out of touch with reality. "Commission officials should leave Brussels and take a vacation in Croatia, Bulgaria, or Greece – there are as many charging stations throughout the country as in a major German city," Kuban told Funke Media. "Anyone planning a Europe-wide ban on combustion engines for rental cars from 2030 has lost touch with reality."

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EU MP Markus Ferber (CSU) appealed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to scrap the plan. If the regulation is implemented, electric cars would only be purchased to meet quotas, Ferber wrote in a letter to von der Leyen, which was seen by "Bild am Sonntag."

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Nico Gabriel, CEO of rental car provider Sixt, described the planned ban on combustion engines as impractical. "Vacationers will hardly use rental cars anymore, and consumers will practically no longer be able to lease vehicles," reported "Bild am Sonntag." There is simply a lack of charging stations throughout the EU. The result: Rental cars are likely to become more expensive, according to other providers, according to the newspaper.

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