Left-wing members of Germany’s ruling coalition were blindsided by a letter sent to the European Commission from their coalition partner and Italy, calling for an immediate change to legislation ending the sale of CO2-emitting cars from 2035.
The two countries “are united to ask the Commission for a change of course on the automotive sector, immediately,” the letter stated, according to a Monday press release by Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, who co-signed the letter with German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche.
Both the letter and Reiche’s involvement came as a shock to the Social Democrats (SPD), who form the ruling coalition with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats. The SPD did not know of the letter’s existence until POLITICO reached out for comment.
“We had no prior knowledge of this letter. We expect that industrial and climate policy issues will be coordinated within the federal government and that no unilateral action will be taken,” said Sebastian Roloff, an SPD member of the Bundestag.
