At the beginning of last year, Federal Economics Minister Peter Altmaier sent a fire letter to Brussels.

The addressees of the letter included the EU Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who is responsible for climate protection, and Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

In his letter, the CDU politician Altmaier warned in clear words not to lower the CO2 limit values ​​for car manufacturers in Europe any further ahead of time.

Any leeway for further tightening was "practically exhausted," wrote Altmaier, who was then accused of letting himself be hired as a lobbyist for the German auto industry.

Marcus Theurer

Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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    Recently, another letter was sent from Berlin to Brussels on the subject of the fleet limits for the automotive industry.

    It is a statement by the federal government on the planned extensive European climate protection package “Fit for 55”.

    The EU Commission intends to present its eagerly awaited proposal for this in July.

    But this time the tone is completely different than in the Altmaier letter from last year: The letter reads like an encouragement for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to courageously move forward with the controversial CO2 limit values.

    "Ambitious" climate protection goals for cars

    In the paper that is available to the FAS, the federal government warns of “ambitious fleet limits” because these quickly increased the pressure on manufacturers to bring more climate-friendly battery-electric cars and vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells onto the market. This could also improve export opportunities and "strengthen the competitive position of EU automobile companies in the international market". That also sounded very different recently: It was only in April that Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) warned that Europe was in danger of "losing" its auto industry due to excessively strict climate protection requirements.

    Now, however, it is said: “The fleet limit values ​​for cars and light commercial vehicles play a central role in achieving the climate targets in the transport sector.” The planned stricter fleet limit values ​​are “a decisive lever for road traffic to make a central contribution to greenhouse gas neutrality by the middle of the century afford to". The federal government reminds us with just one sentence that "overstimulating" the pace of climate protection could lead to a "disruption of the value chain" in the automotive industry. This would primarily affect small and medium-sized companies in the supplier industry.

    The new fleet limits are considered to be the central climate protection target for vehicle manufacturers in the coming years.

    So far, the goal has been to reduce the average CO2 emissions of new cars in Europe by 37.5 percent by 2030 compared to 2021.

    The EU Commission is now aiming for a minus of 50 percent - and is obviously getting backing from Berlin.

    More electric cars

    The new specification would have serious consequences: On average, the new vehicle fleet of manufacturers in Europe would have to achieve an average consumption of a good 2 liters per hundred kilometers by the end of the decade, according to the German automotive industry association VDA. This can only be achieved if the share of electric vehicles in new registrations in Europe increases to at least 60 percent by 2030, because these are considered to be zero-emission vehicles if the target is achieved. Last year, the share of new e-cars was a good 11 percent. In its statement, the federal government urges an “EU-wide ramp-up of charging infrastructure expansion”. The auto industry also considers this to be urgently needed.

    Experts in Brussels speak of a tough change of course by the government in Berlin: "For years, Germany has blocked an ambitious increase in limit values," says William Todts, managing director of the pan-European environmental association Transport & Environment. Now, however, the German government is giving the "green light". In Berlin this week it was said that Olaf Scholz, Vice Chancellor and SPD top candidate in the federal election campaign, had campaigned for stricter climate protection goals. However, the course of leading German car manufacturers has also changed. The Volkswagen Group in particular is fully committed to electromobility and is investing billions in new e-cars and battery cell factories.

    The German position paper on the EU climate protection program is not just about the auto industry. The federal government insists on more climate protection in air traffic: This must make a “significant, robust and fair contribution to the achievement of the goals of the Paris climate protection agreement”, it says in the letter. Specifically, Berlin demands that the free allocation of CO2 certificates as part of the European emissions trading scheme must be "terminated promptly". What sounds technical would have a direct economic impact on the airlines: they have long been subject to emissions trading, which is intended to reduce CO2 emissions using market-based means. But so far the European airlines have been given a large part of the CO2 certificates. If you have to buy these on the market in the future,their costs could increase considerably. The price for CO2 certificates in the European trading system has risen sharply in recent months.