Brussels officials earlier this year celebrated the passing of plans to ban the internal combustion engine as an “important step towards zero-emission mobility.” But Poland has signalled it is determined to overturn this phaseout, alongside other climate policies, by appealing to the Court of Justice. This comes after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his government would “do anything to protect Polish families against another pseudo-green idea by rich countries and bureaucrats from Brussels.”
The EU’s ban received its “final green light” towards the end of March, despite opposition from Poland and Germany, among others. Berlin appeared to back down after it was stipulated that engines will still be eligible for registration beyond 2035 so long as they use carbon-neutral fuels. But Warsaw insists that this is not enough; that the ban is “harmful to all European economies.”
These are the latest words on the matter from Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa, who, quoted in Politico, this week told Radio Zet that “we are going to the Court of Justice in the near future with this decision.” She complained that “if today we are making a decision for 2035, then today it is necessary to look at its consequences for the following years.”
At an MCC Brussels event late last month, forecaster and author James Woudhuysen described Brussels as “not very interested in long-term development.” He added that “what we need is more strategy—more for the long-term—to win the war on energy.” Dutch MEP Michiel Hoogeveen said the next day at an event hosted by The European Conservative that EU officials simply “don’t think in a business mindset.”
Ms. Moskwa noted that on the combustion engine ban in particular, “there is no analysis of the social and economic impact, which is scandalous.” One Polish diplomat told Politico that the government is particularly displeased with the failure of officials to properly engage with Warsaw’s criticism of the engine ban. The country’s upcoming action on the law, alongside its opposition to the EU migration edict, is unlikely to gain it any more friends in Brussels.
