German transport minister invites opposition to join mobility commission

Germany’s transport minister Andreas Scheuer has invited politicians from opposition parties to join the country’s mobility commission in order to help work on a proposal to reduce emissions in the transport sector, the news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Focus Online. Green politician Cem Özdemir and Daniela Kluckert of the pro-business FDP have been invited to take part in the commission’s deliberations to “broaden the platform’s membership” structure, the minister said.

Scheuer himself had earlier dismissed an internal working paper drafted by the task force for “provoking anger” and “endangering our prosperity,” since it recommended the introduction of a motorway speed limit and fuel tax hikes. The mobility commission and a yet-to-be installed buildings commission are supposed to develop ideas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in these sectors in a similar fashion to Germany’s so-called coal exit commission, which agreed in its final report on the transformation of the country’s energy sector in late January.