08 Nov 2017

Intense lobbying by German carmakers waters down new EU car fleet emission limits

Süddeutsche Zeitung

A concerted lobbying effort by German carmakers was crucial in watering down new EU car fleet emission targets for the period after 2021, reports Süddeutsche Zeitung. “It seems a call from Germany’s chief car lobbyist, [car industry association VDA head] Matthias Wissmann, to [EU commission President] Jean-Claude Juncker’s cabinet chief Martin Selmayr, was crowned by success. Selmayr denies a connection. German EU commissioner Günther Oettinger has also acted in the interest of the car industry, says the article. “As if Dieselgate had never happened, Volkswagen in particular led a campaign against stricter environmental laws.” According to a Reuters report, the EU commission will propose today CO₂reduction targets for new cars of 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2021.

Read the SZ article in German here.

Find plenty of background in the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.

Please note: The Clean Energy Wire will publish an article on this topic later today.

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Intense lobbying by German carmakers waters down new EU car fleet emission limits

China rejects “theory” of unfair solar PV production subsidies at Scholz’s Beijing visit

Fears of job cuts at Berlin's Tesla factory after carmaker announces global workforce reduction

Debate about German transport climate policy reignited as expert council confirms “considerable gap” to targets

German government divided over effect on transport if climate law reform is delayed

German government urged to consider colonial past in green hydrogen projects in Namibia