Combustion engine ban splitting point in German transport policy talks

After an expected clash over climate and energy policy last week, Germany’s aspiring coalition partners of the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, the pro-business FDP and the environmentalist Green Party also failed to find a first official agreement on transport policy, an equally controversial topic. At the coalition talks on Wednesday, the debate over an end to combustion engines in Germany and looming driving bans for polluting cars in several major cities were splitting points as the potential Jamaica coalition partners’ ideas for the future of the mighty German car industry differ considerably. The Green Party wants to ban registrations of new cars with combustion engines by 2030 to curb the transport sector's CO2 emissions and facilitate the shift to electric mobility, a policy that conservative transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said would be "not possible" with his party. 

See the CLEW article German coalition talks stuck over climate, energy policy and the CLEW factsheet The debate over an end to combustion engines in Germany for more information.

Note: The Clean Energy Wire will publish an article on this story later today.