Merz rejects reported EU plan to force rental firms to buy EVs from 2030

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday criticised a reported draft EU plan to oblige car rental firms and large companies to buy only electric vehicles from 2030, saying it could contribute to destroying the bloc's important automotive industry.

German tabloid Bild Zeitung had on Saturday reported that the EU Commission was considering the move, citing anonymous EU sources. Such corporate fleets make up about 60% of new car sales, it said.

Merz said the proposals "completely miss the point of the current joint needs we have in Europe", noting the automotive industry was one of the region's core industries.

"We must not allow it to be destroyed by focussing on technologies that might not be market-ready enough by a given date for one to rely exclusively on that single technology," he told reporters. "That's why we oppose such rigid specifications."

"Europe is not open enough, not fast enough, not dynamic enough — and I want to help change that" he said.

Germany has a right to help formulate the EU's strategic outlook given it finances a quarter of the bloc's budget, he said. 

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )