Coalition partners reject Green-backed CO2 levy for conventional cars
Handelsblatt
German chancellor Olaf Scholz鈥檚 Social Democrats (SPD) and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) have rejected a聽Green Party-backed proposal聽for a climate levy on new combustion engine cars, Handelsblatt聽.聽Detlef M眉ller,聽deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group,聽said聽that he did not support the idea of 鈥渁 new component for artificially increasing the price of combustion vehicles鈥澛爄n the form of聽a CO2-dependent climate tax for new car registrations, which was聽put forward in a聽strategy paper聽issued by the Green-led聽climate and economy ministry.聽M眉ller said the government should focus on implementing other coalition agreements instead, such as accelerating the roll-out of聽charging stations.聽FDP parliamentary group leader Christian D眉rr聽also criticised聽the proposal, saying that 鈥渋n view of the rising prices, the burdens are already high enough. In times of inflation, the state must not artificially inflate prices.鈥�
The聽state of Lower Saxony, one of聽the largest shareholders聽of carmaker Volkswagen, also opposes聽the聽initiative. A spokesperson for state鈥檚 transport ministry stated that 鈥渁 considerable amount of tax money is wasted on unnecessary subsidies"聽and that there was currently greater demand for the federal government to聽provide the necessary charging infrastructure for electric cars in a timely manner.
According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA),听electric car registrations increased by 26 percent in the first quarter of 2022聽compared to the same period in 2021.聽According to a recent聽forecast聽by聽business consultancy PwC,聽Germany will聽fail to聽reach its target of 15 million electric cars by 2030 due to a lack of charging聽stations. In contrast, utility association BDEW聽warned聽that Germany will only need a fraction of the charging points currently planned.
