Combustion engine ban to figure in coalition talks after elections?
For the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), a combustion engine ban is a no-go in coalition talks after the September elections, CSU head Horst Seehofer said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe. It would 鈥渟trike at the roots of our prosperity,鈥 said Seehofer. Political goals should not be achieved with bans. "The British can do that, they've made several such mistakes before. The de-industrialisation of the market economy is a British invention," said Seehofer. A quota for e-cars was 鈥渟imilar nonsense,鈥 said Seehofer.
In a separate interview with Funke Mediengruppe, Green 鈥厂辫颈迟锄别苍办补苍诲颈诲补迟鈥 Cem 脰zdemir said: 鈥淭he Greens will not enter a coalition that doesn鈥檛 initiate the end of the fossil combustion engine era and sets the stage for emission-free transport.鈥
In an interview with public broadcaster ZDF, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the diesel engine was needed to adhere to climate targets. 鈥淲e need the bridging technology [combustion engines] not for years, but decades, I鈥檇 say,鈥 she said. She also noted that 鈥渋t would be wrong to decide on a specific date now鈥 for a combustion engine phase-out. While she took the Greens' announcement seriously, the election campaign was not about coalition-building and she didn鈥檛 鈥渂elieve in saying day after day what one will introduce in the coalition negotiations.鈥
Read the Seehofer interview in German , an article on 脰zdemir in German and watch the ZDF interview in German .
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet The debate over an end to combustion engines in Germany, and the 威力彩玩法 news digest entry Merkel signals support for eventual ban of combustion engine.