Germany's transport minister warns of weekend driving ban

The transport sector consistently fails to meet its climate targets. Photo: Moment RF

Germany's transport minister has warned that driving will have to be banned on weekends unless the country's net zero emissions laws are changed.

Volker Wissing's FDP party wants the law to be amended amendments so that the polluting transport sector could fall short of carbon reduction targets if Germany as a whole meets them.

But these changes are opposed by the Greens, part of a tripartite coalition consisting of the FDP and the Social Democrats (SPD), led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Negotiations over the draft law have dragged on since September last year. In an attempt to put pressure on his coalition partners to amend the law, Mr Wissing said he would have to enforce the weekend driving ban to comply with the law if it was not changed by mid-July.

Greens have accused Wissing of stoking unfounded fears at a time when German enthusiasm for climate legislation is at a low point during a cost of living crisis.

Julia Verlinden, leader of the Greens parliamentary group, said there were other ways to tackle pollution, including introducing speed limits on the country's motorways.

However, speed limits on motorways have been controversial. Mr Wissing ruled this out, as did the opposition parties CDU and the far-right Alternative for Germany.

Mr Wissing defended his comments, saying: “I told the citizens the truth. You can only save so much [pollution] by eliminating cars and trucks' Photo: Lisa Johannsen/Reuters

Greenhouse gas emissions from Europe's largest economy fell to their lowest level in 70 years in 2023, but the transport sector consistently misses its climate targets.

Under current protection law climate change, the ministry responsible for underperforming sectors should immediately launch a program to bring them back on track.

Mr. Wissing has not yet done so. His ministry argues that reforming the sector is more challenging than reforming other areas of the economy because it affects people's daily lives and cannot be changed quickly.

“An appropriate reduction in traffic figures will only be possible through restrictive measures that are difficult to communicate to the public, such as nationwide and permanent bans on driving on Saturdays and Sundays,” he wrote in a letter dated Thursday to the leaders of coalition parliamentary groups. /p>

The letter was sharply criticized by coalition partners and environmental groups.

“Stirring up panic with absurd proposals”

“The minister is not responsible for stoking unfounded fears,” Katharina Dröge, said on Friday, the leader of the Green Party parliamentary group.

Detlef Müller, deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, said the gambit would not move the negotiations forward.

“Stirring up panic with absurd proposals does not help climate protection in the transport sector, on the contrary,” he said.

Clara Thompson, a mobility expert at Greenpeace, told the German press agency: “Wissing wasted two years blocking everything climate protection measures in road traffic — now he is coming up with terrible scenarios so that he does not have to do anything in the future.”

However, Christian Lindner, FDP party leader and finance minister supported the threat.

p>»The previous government's Climate Protection Act could soon lead to a driving ban,» he wrote on social media.

The Department for Transport said the minister's letter was not a threat, but rather expressed the view that Parliament should live. carry out their duties and agree to the amendment.

The ministry spokesman said: “It is the duty of the minister to point out the dangers.”

Mr. Wissing defended himself in German. radio on Friday, saying: “I told the citizens the truth. You can only save so much [pollution] by giving up cars and trucks.

“People like Greenpeace and the Greens who always say the climate law should stay the way it is is, they may now be frightened by the consequences of their policies.”

The climate protection law was introduced by the center-right CDU when it headed the government under Angela Merkel.

It is now in opposition and is in opposition. leads in the polls after a series of disputes between coalition members.