"Check carefully"

Combustion engine phase-out: Von der Leyen rows back

Von der Leyen will be the lead candidate for the European People's Party in the EU elections and is hoping for a second term as Commission President.(Bild: AFP)

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has emphasized that the decision taken at EU level to phase out combustion engines in 2026 will be reviewed. It is "very important" that a review takes place in 2026, said the CDU politician in Brussels on Wednesday. "I think it is often forgotten that an inventory and a review will take place in 2026."

This should ensure that there is openness for technologies and choice for consumers. The industry should also be able to choose where it wants to invest and what it sees as the mobility of the future.

Von der Leyen will be the lead candidate for the European People's Party in the EU elections and is hoping for a second term as Commission President.(Bild: AFP)

EU had agreed to phase out combustion engines from 2035
In 2022, the EU agreed that from 2035, no new cars should be registered that run on petrol or diesel. The agreement already stipulated that a review would take place in 2026.

The dilemma with e-fuels
In Austria, the Turkish half of the coalition in the person of Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer had campaigned against the definitive end of combustion engines. At the time, Nehammer insisted on the use of e-fuels as an alternative, making headlines due to the questionable feasibility of this idea. 

However, the chairman of the Christian Democratic EPP group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, also wants to overturn the 2035 ban on combustion engines. "If my group can secure a majority after the European elections, we will reverse the ban on combustion engines passed by the European Parliament in this legislative period," the CSU politician told the newspapers of the Bavarian media group Mediengruppe Bayern in December.

Technology not yet fully developed
In principle, vehicles with combustion engines can now also be newly registered after 2035 if they only run on CO2-neutral fuels. However, e-fuels have hardly been produced to date and are considered scarce, expensive and inefficient. For this reason, the EU Commission has so far wanted to reserve them primarily for shipping or air traffic that cannot be powered directly by electricity.

According to a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the production volume expected in 2035 will not be sufficient to cover demand in these areas alone. There would be nothing left for passenger cars anyway, even if all the hoped-for production capacities could be exhausted.