Germans will likely come empty-handed to EU air quality meeting

The German government will likely arrive empty-handed at an EU Commission meeting on 30 January where several states are supposed to show how and by when they intend to achieve compliance with European Union air quality directives, writes Nikolaus Doll in Die Welt. Time is running out to decide “new and binding measures” – demanded by the Commission – to bring down nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels in inner cities, in large parts caused by older diesel engine vehicles, writes Doll. Meetings of some of the working groups, established at the diesel summit in 2017 and responsible for proposing measures, were cancelled, which has delayed the process. The proposal to oblige carmakers to pay for hardware retrofitting is an issue heatedly debated in the working groups.

Read the article in German here.

Find background on the diesel technology’s role for clean air and climate in the CLEW article Why the German diesel summit matters for climate and energy.