It is not unusual for politics and business to exchange ideas. However, a ZDF report recently suggested that Porsche CEO Blume and Finance Minister Lindner have a particularly close bond. However, there is said to have been no exchange during coalition negotiations.
The FDP has rejected allegations that the car manufacturer Porsche allegedly exerted influence on party leader Christian Lindner on the question of the future of combustion engines during the coalition negotiations. Lindner's position on the further use of synthetic fuels has been "known for years," the party said.
During the coalition negotiations in October, there was “only a short phone call” between the future Federal Minister of Finance and Porsche boss Oliver Blume “on questions about the use of e-fuels”. The ZDF satirical magazine "Die Anstalt" published quotes from Blume from a works meeting in June this week.
Blume, who will become head of the Volkswagen Group on September 1, is said to have said that Porsche played a "very large part" in the further use of synthetically produced e-fuels for combustion engines being included in the coalition agreement. Lindner "kept him up to date almost every hour". A spokesman for Porsche AG expressed the company's regret to the "Welt am Sonntag" newspaper.
"During an internal event in June, exaggerated formulations were made, and we apologize for that," he told the newspaper. "The choice of words does not correspond to the facts. The exchange did not take place and there was no influence." An FDP spokesman explained that Lindner "also spoke to the heads of vehicle manufacturers who do not support e-fuels".
"As far as we know, the companies have also held such talks with the negotiators of the coalition partners. This is also correct in view of the importance of the German automotive industry, on whose future the jobs of millions of employees depend directly and indirectly." However, the Left Party warned of a threat to democracy. "It cannot be that the Porsche boss was apparently better informed about the status of the coalition negotiations than the rest of the population," said Jan Korte, parliamentary director of the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
"That would be a further erosion of democracy." The thing has "at least a 'taste'". In the coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP backed the EU Commission's plans to "allow only CO2-neutral vehicles in the transport sector in Europe by 2035". Combustion engines that run on synthetic fuels should be exempt from this. The "traffic light" is therefore committed to "that it can be proven that only vehicles that can be refueled with e-fuels can be newly registered".
