The German government’s recent signaling of a potential rollback of the European Union’s combustion engine ban has drawn sharp criticism from within the ruling coalition, with Green Party parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge accusing the administration of demonstrating a profound disregard for climate protection efforts. In an interview with Phoenix television on Saturday, Dröge expressed deep concern that the move by the black-red coalition (CDU/CSU and SPD) risks undermining crucial climate action commitments at a European level. She characterized the potential shift as “a future-blind policy” questioning the government’s commitment to long-term environmental goals.
Dröge’s critique extended beyond the combustion engine debate, directly targeting Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his leadership. She asserted that Merz is pursuing a flawed policy direction and that his policies are contributing to a broader sense of instability within Germany. She specifically pointed to the ongoing turmoil surrounding pension reform, where the coalition has demonstrated a severe lack of consensus, as evidence of this dysfunction.
“We’ve witnessed this week how the coalition has signaled that climate protection simply isn’t a priority” Dröge stated, highlighting a growing disconnect between stated ambitions and concrete action. The Green leader warned that this climate policy ambiguity, coupled with the perceived chaos surrounding other key policy areas, is fostering a worrying level of uncertainty amongst the German population, a situation she deemed “fatal”. The challenge now lies in whether the government can repair the damage to its credibility and recommit to the ambitious environmental targets initially agreed upon, or if this represents a fundamental shift in Germany’s approach to fighting climate change.
