France and Germany may reach car deal within hours or days — Politico Europe

In Paris, European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné said that an agreement between France and Germany to strengthen the protective provisions of the Industrial Acceleration Act in exchange for easing rules on internal combustion engines could be finalized within a few hours or days. Politico Europe reports.

Compromise on industrial policy

Séjourné spoke at Politico’s competitiveness summit in Paris on October 13. According to him, the agreement should help overcome the deadlock surrounding the Industrial Acceleration Act, including in the European Parliament. The day before, French President Emmanuel Macron also said that a broad agreement with Germany was imminent.

The French European commissioner said he was ready to support greater flexibility on the ban on internal combustion engines and emissions standards if this would help unlock negotiations on the act. At the same time, he stressed that decarbonization targets should not be completely scrapped.

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Dispute in the European Parliament

According to the publication, some lawmakers from the center-right European People’s Party, mainly from the German delegation, are seeking to reject or substantially weaken the proposal. The discussion revolves around two approaches to preferences in the European market: under the first, trading partners must meet the established criteria in advance; under the second, the EU would exclude those who fail to meet reciprocity requirements or other conditions.

Séjourné called the dispute secondary and said that the key issue was the principle of reciprocity in the EU’s relations with partners. He also noted that European public funds should primarily be used for public procurement, and that it is impossible to expand the scope of Made in Europe requirements without limits if the goal is production in Europe.