Green state premier: Diesel summits unsuitable platform for emissions crisis

The “ill-prepared” ‘diesel summits’ organised by the federal government are not the right platform for dealing with the “dynamic” developments of the car emissions fraud scandal, Baden-Wuerttemberg’s Green state premier Winfried Kretschmann told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview. In his home state, there existed an institutionalised seven-year “strategy dialogue” between government, industry, science, civil society and municipalities, he said. Kretschmann opposes proposals such as e-car quotas and setting an end date for combustion engines now. “In our emotional exuberance, we shouldn’t take the third step before the first.” Instead, he says he favours emissions limits. A so-called “blue badge”, which would give cities a legal basis for banning older diesel cars, “would be a technology driver and an announcement that industry and consumers could plan with,” said Kretschmann.

Read an article on the interview in German here.

Find more information on the past diesel summits in CLEW’s articles Merkel at second diesel summit: must avoid driving bans "by all means" and German carmakers pledge diesel software updates and buyer’s bonus.