Proposal criticised: EVs-only plan for EU car rental firms

MUNICH: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized plans that newspaper Bild said the European Union is working on that would prohibit car-rental firms and large corporations from buying non-electric vehicles for their fleets from 2030.

Under the deliberations, companies like Sixt SE and Europcar Mobility Group SA would only be allowed to purchase electric vehicles from that date, Bild reported on Sunday, citing EU sources it didn't identify.

"The proposals announced over the weekend regarding rental car fleets and electrification completely ignore the needs we have in Europe right now," Merz told reporters in Berlin Monday evening.

"These are not the proposals that are right," he said after a meeting with Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. "Rather, we want to remain technologically open."

A spokesman for the European Commission told Bloomberg News that it hasn't adopted the proposal and no political decisions have been taken.

The proposal was submitted to the Commission in the context of a dialogue with car manufacturers, and the Commission has only committed to carrying out an "impact assessment," the spokesman said.

Last week, Merz rejected a budget proposal from the EU Commission.

"My criticism of the EU is not personal, but rather objectively based," he said.