President von der Leyen was unable to unblock the situation in the German government over the weekend: Christian Lindner, head of the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), remains inflexible to this day. He refuses to endorse the directive on the end of heat engines when all political deliberations are closed. But this last-minute opposition seems driven rather by domestic political considerations. The FDP takes very badly this cohabitation with the left and the ecologists. Its voters are turning away from it, as the regional elections have shown. Christian Lindner needs to be heard.
In the meantime, it upsets the ordering of the European Union and threatens one of its pillars: Germany's signature on the Council. “Germany voted 'yes' in the Council. It cannot go back at the risk of undermining the entire European construction", warns Pascal Canfin, the chairman of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament. “If all countries behave like Germany, there is never a European agreement possible again. It's the same government, the same coalition that said 'yes' after our negotiations,” adds Renew Europe MEP. In addition, the European text provides for a review clause in 2026 for plug-in hybrid vehicles. In other words, the mass of the combustion engine is not quite said…
When the European Parliament and the Council reach an agreement during trialogues in October 2022, the rest is just a formality. Parliament ratified this agreement on February 14. The Council should have done the same. It was not counting with Christian Lindner, fighter of the 25th hour… Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, finds himself stuck in the meanders of a coalition which, behind the scenes, shoots loudly on almost all subjects.
The internal German crisis is serious. Because that's what it's all about. Christian Lindner not only calls into question a European compromise that has been recorded but whose terms are completely modeled on the German coalition contract. As Pascal Canfin points out, the three parties of the German coalition had agreed on an end to the heat engine by 2035. The FDP obtained that the coalition contract mention that, from 2035, “ only vehicles that can demonstrably be powered by e-fuels can be so”.
We are mistaken if we think that Lindner is interested in the merits of the case. Its purpose is quite different. And it is very possible that he will open a second front within the German government: the continuation of nuclear power against and against the SPD and the Greens. In Paris, Berlin political life is observed with interest. Especially if it is to praise the merits of nuclear…
