Government writes to the EU on the car, ‘transition is fair’

The green transition must be “fair and sustainable” and the Commission’s proposal to stop polluting cars from 2035, as it was conceived, is not. In a letter addressed to the European executive and in particular to the Vice-President Frans Timmermans, the Italian government once again puts its feet on the car dossier just as Brussels is trying hard to get out of the impasse created after the wall of Italy, Germany, Poland and Bulgaria . The letter is signed by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Ministers Gilberto Pichetto and Adolfo Urso. They are the three men of the executive responsible for the matter but they are also representatives of all three majority parties. And and it is a compactness that strengthens Giorgia Meloni’s position on the eve of a European Council where industrial policy and the Green Deal risk being the hottest topics. There is negotiation to unblock the stalemate on the proposal, but Brussels is basically doing it with Berlin. And it’s not an easy deal. On the one hand, the Commission has no intention of reopening the text but of working on its interpretation, on the other Germany wants a clear and concrete commitment on e-fuels even after 2035. In the past few hours, the Commission has advanced a compromise which meets Berlin but allowing the use of e-fuels on condition that, from 2035, this exclusive use. “Cars must be equipped with sensors which “must not allow these vehicles to start if powered with non-carbon neutral fuels”, reads the text of the EU executive, which said it was “confident” about the agreement. The first The reaction of the German Minister of Transport, the liberal Volker Wissing, according to the newspaper Der Spiegel, was however negative. And patience, among the member countries in favor of the measure, is weakening. “I think we should stick to what was agreed. And I have no doubts that Germany will find an agreement in its coalition on this”, punctuated the French EU affairs minister Laurence Boone. Nobody in Brussels wants a clash between Berlin and Paris at the summit. However, the risk exists, also because On another issue, frictions are emerging between the two capitals: the use of nuclear power in the era of decarbonization.France is the frontrunner of the nuclearists while Germany, once again, is forced to deal with internal divisions in its coalition Italy will arrive at the summit bringing its vision of pragmatic environmentalism. On the car dossier, the distance with the EU is high with Rome asking not to exclude not only e-fuels but also biofuels. The theme of the Green transition at the summit of the 27 it will intertwine hand in glove with the Net Zero plan and with the strategy for EU competitiveness. The dossier remains divisive also on the funding front. Italy, and not only that, is aiming for a sovereignty fund and European that Ursula von der Leyen announced but which, in fact, will only be discussed in the summer. For now, the Commission insists on the use of existing funds – Recovery, RePower, InnovationEu and InvestEu – and promises greater flexibility on their application. But it is unlikely that, in the face of the easing of state aid granted in recent days by Brussels, all this will be enough for countries that, like Italy, have little fiscal space.