Praise for domestic manufacturers: Environment Minister Schneider predicts that Germany will catch up with electric cars

European car manufacturers will most likely be allowed to continue selling combustion engines after 2035. Environment Minister Schneider is not worried. The SPD politician is convinced: German car manufacturers have woken up to electromobility.

Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider sees electric cars as the future of road transport even after the ban on combustion engines in the EU has been relaxed. “Electric cars will definitely prevail because they are technically superior and you can drive them much cheaper,” said Schneider to the editorial network Germany (RND). "The crucial question is where they will be built in the future."

The new European rules should help ensure that cars are produced in Europe and not just in China, the minister emphasized. "After the corporate managers ignored the issue for too long, I now have hope that the race to catch up will be successful." Schneider is convinced that the demand is there now and will continue to grow. "The German manufacturers have really good electrical offerings."

On Thursday, the EU Parliament's Environment Committee wants to decide that Europe's car manufacturers will be allowed to sell new combustion engines and hybrid vehicles even after 2035. The final vote in the plenary session is scheduled to take place in December. Since MPs from several political groups have agreed on a common text, adoption is considered likely.

So far it is planned that from 2035 only emission-free cars will be allowed to be registered in the European Union. The background to this is the EU's goal of becoming climate neutral in the coming years, i.e. only emitting as much CO2 as can be sequestered again.

The vote in the Environment Committee prepares the decision of the entire Parliament, which is expected to be taken in mid-December. At the same time, the 27 EU member states are currently developing their common position. Without an agreement between Parliament and the Council, no change can come into force.