After agreement in the combustion dispute - Lindner plans reform of the motor vehicle tax

After the agreement in the dispute over the registration of cars with combustion engines in the EU, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants to reform the taxation of motor vehicles. Cars that are fueled with climate-neutral synthetic fuels - so-called e-fuels - should in future be taxed less than vehicles currently powered by petrol or diesel, said the FDP chairman of the German Press Agency. "If the fuel is climate-friendly, then the taxation of the vehicle tax to the energy tax must be adjusted." The Ministry of Finance will present a concept for this.

"It will be a while before we see such vehicles on the road and have e-fuels in the tank," said Lindner. "But for people and the economy it will be an important planning factor that e-fuels are taxed more cheaply than fossil fuels."

After weeks of wrangling about the future of cars with internal combustion engines, the German government agreed on a compromise with the EU Commission on Friday evening. According to this, new cars with such a drive can be registered in the EU after 2035 if they are refueled with climate-neutral fuel.

E-fuels are produced using electricity from renewable energies, water and CO₂ from the air. Unlike conventional fossil fuels such as petrol or diesel, they do not release any additional gases that are harmful to the climate. Due to the high power consumption during production and the high production costs, it is currently still unclear whether the production of cars powered by e-fuels is really worthwhile.

Nicola Beer, FDP politician and Vice President of the European Parliament, speaks to WELT about the FDP's tough struggle to find a compromise in the dispute over combustion engines.

Source: WORLD

The European Parliament and EU states had actually already agreed in October that only emission-free new cars may be registered in the EU from 2035. However, Germany insisted that in principle all cars with combustion engines that are operated with so-called e-fuels should be included. A confirmation of the agreement by the EU states, which was planned for early March, was initially prevented by Germany. Since then, the EU Commission and the federal government have been negotiating a compromise.

After the solution that has now been found, concrete procedural steps and a timetable are to be fixed for implementation, according to Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP). "We want the process to be completed by autumn 2024," said the FDP politician. The final vote of all 27 EU countries should now take place next Tuesday. In addition to Germany, other countries such as Italy, Austria and Poland were originally critical of the project. With German approval, however, it is very likely that the necessary majority will be achieved.

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