The European Commission will propose banning companies from buying and leasing cars with internal combustion engines from 2030, Bild reported. The information has caused a storm of reactions.
The European Commission plans to ban companies from leasing and purchasing company cars with internal combustion engines, the German Bild reported. From 2030 onwards, companies will only be able to buy zero-emission vehicles such as electric cars, the publication also reported, citing its sources in Brussels. .
If such rules are adopted, they will affect around 60% of new car sales. The Commission intends to present the relevant plans at the end of the summer, which must then be approved by the EU Council and the European Parliament.
Germany does not support the proposal
The European Commission has confirmed that new proposals for regulation are being worked on, but without giving further details.
Such a proposal, however, will meet resistance from some member states. "We categorically reject it and have informed the car rental companies of our negative position", commented a spokesman for the German Transport Minister, Patrick Schneider. "We will fight to prevent this from happening", he added to "Agence France-Presse".
In many European countries there are not enough charging stations
The automotive industry also reacted critically. "Almost 60 percent of all charging stations in the EU are located in Germany, France and the Netherlands", commented Hildegard Müller from the German Automotive Industry Association. "Hamburg, for example, has more charging stations than Slovakia and Bulgaria. Setting targets is one thing, enabling them to be achieved is another", added Müller. "The EU also bears responsibility here." Car rental companies have also raised the alarm that such a measure would lead to a serious increase in the prices of their services, and there are not enough charging stations.
The infrastructure for charging electric vehicles in European countries varies dramatically. While Denmark has 95.7 charging stations per 100 kilometers, the Netherlands has 81.3, and Germany has 65.2, in Bulgaria and Romania there are only 1.2, according to data from the German automobile club ADAC.