London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

France-Germany feud heats up over cars and nuclear

France-Germany feud heats up over cars and nuclear

Rift risks spilling over into EU leaders’ summit in Brussels this week.
A growing row between Germany and France risks crashing into a crucial EU summit later this week.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss economic competitiveness and ammunition for Ukraine, but the clash between Germany and France over combustion-engine cars and nuclear energy now looms disruptively over those talks.

"I am a supporter of permanent Franco-German compromise, but also of truth in the Franco-German relationship. When we have a disagreement, we don't hide it, we work to overcome it," French Transport Minister Clément Beaune told POLITICO.

The EU's move to ban the sale of polluting cars and vans by 2035 in order to tackle spiraling transport-linked greenhouse gas emissions has ignited the latest row after Germany mounted an unusually late blockade of the EU green car rules alongside a small group of allies, including Italy.

Berlin wants a clear exemption for e-fuels, a synthetic alternative to fossil fuels, which would benefit its automotive industry, but that change was already rejected twice in the European Parliament and member countries didn't back a binding loophole for such fuels in lengthy negotiations over the final draft last year.

France strongly criticizes Germany's roadblock, while at the same time is trying to push through nuclear energy exemptions in the EU's green rules — which has irritated Berlin.

France wanted to include a reference in EU summit conclusions that would have emphasized the importance of nuclear power for EU industry decarbonization, two diplomats said. But that's a no-go for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, which includes the nuclear-skeptic Green party.

Although the disputed paragraph was not included in draft conclusions circulated Monday evening by European Council President Charles Michel, Paris continues to push to include nuclear power under the EU's clean tech legislation.

In recent days, France has not only lobbied to include nuclear energy in the EU's Net Zero Industry Act — a legislative package that aims to ramp up the bloc's clean tech manufacturing — but it is also making a renewed push to give nuclear-based hydrogen a bigger role in meeting EU renewable energy goals. The fact that the European Commission, under pressure from Berlin, downgraded the role of nuclear power under the Net Zero Industry Act before it was presented last week particularly angered Paris, according to two diplomats.

Meanwhile, Berlin continued intensive negotiations Monday with the European Commission about cars, regarding a potential deal for allowing synthetic fuels (or e-fuels) under the EU legislation. Scholz wants the issue resolved before Thursday's summit, to avoid it potentially becoming a bigger political discussion among leaders, three officials said.

But even if a deal can be struck on time, it's still likely to be overshadowed by resistance from France and the European Parliament.

Beaune called the German e-fuels push "risky" and said the issue could be discussed on the summit sidelines.

In a letter Monday to the Council of the EU, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also protested against Germany's last-minute attempt to change already-agreed cars legislation.

Metsola warned it could "undermine the credibility of the [EU's] legislative process," according to an official who has seen the letter. Metsola might also directly bring up these concerns when she meets EU leaders at Thursday's summit.

The big problem for Germany is that its controversial push on e-fuels risks backfiring.

"It’s not acceptable to compromise energy versus cars, and France should stick to its public guns and fight for the 2035 engine phaseout," said Julia Poliscanova from the green group Transport & Environment.

Two officials in Berlin said they were worried Germany's blockade on cars legislation would not only undermine Berlin's credibility but also weaken its ability to push back against France's nuclear plans.

"If we're saying at the last moment, 'hold on, we want to change the legislation because we have a key interest here,' it's more difficult to say 'no' if others are doing the same," one said.

Ahead of a meeting Tuesday of EU affairs ministers to prepare the leaders' summit, German EU Affairs State Secretary Anna Lührmann said she hopes Berlin's blockade on the cars legislation won't incentivize other countries to try copycat moves to protect their core national interests.

"It is important that Germany is perceived as a reliable negotiating partner in Brussels and acts early and cohesively. This has to become better,” Lührmann told POLITICO.

"This stalemate must now be ended quickly," she added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×