Tax exemptions for European electric cars

By letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), the German Chancellor (Olaf Scholz) asked the European Union for measures to reduce bureaucracy and support the automotive and metal industry. “We now urgently need a common European impetus to reduce bureaucratic costs and increase the innovative capacity of our companies” (p.e. produced in the EU), the SPD politician wrote, according to a report by Süddeutsche Zeitung. The contents of the five-page letter, sent yesterday (2.1.2024), confirmed a government representative, according to the German news agency. Olaf Salts also focuses on the automotive industry. In his view, an ‘additional purchasing boost’ is required for electronic cars. CORVERSE To this end, it wants to “introduce a non-bureaucratic tax deduction on vehicles produced in Germany” for private markets at national level. At EU level, it calls for a ‘short-term initiative’. With regard to European punitive tariffs on Chinese electronic cars put into effect in the autumn, Salts calls for talks with China on their withdrawal to be completed “friendlyly”. Germany had voted against European punitive tariffs due to concern about a trade conflict and possible retaliation against German manufacturers. In the letter, Scholz is not only in favour of the car industry but also of the energy industry. For example, it calls for funding to transition to climate-friendly steel production to be ‘more realistic and flexible’. Above all it must be possible to use natural gas and so-called blue hydrogen. While green hydrogen is produced from renewable energy sources in a climate neutral way, blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas and produced CO2 is permanently stored. Scholz also calls for greater freedom for Member States to support their energy-intensive industries in terms of electricity prices.