BERLIN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a warning on Tuesday that the adoption of overambitious Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission targets in the European Union (EU) could cause an exodus of automotive producers from the continent.
Speaking during a conference hosted by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in Berlin, Merkel said that her government would try to arrive at a shared position on the issue together with domestic carmakers.
While recent proposals made by the EU Commission for new vehicles to emit 30 percent less CO2 on average between 2012 and 2030 offered a useful basis for policy discussions, she warned that "anything beyond this" could threaten automotive jobs in Europe.
So far, there are still mixed reactions at the German government with the view to the envisioned EU targets.
Transport minister Andreas Scheuer has welcomed the proposals from Brussels, while minister for the environment Svenja Schulze is calling for a more ambitious emissions reduction target.
German carmakers themselves have said that a 30-percent reduction between 2012 and 2030 is realistic but questioned the feasibility of an intermediate goal of 15 percent fewer emissions by 2025 which is also being demanded by the EU commission.
Merkel further emphasized on Tuesday that aside from improving the efficiency of petrol vehicles, the European automotive industry should focus more on creating the infrastructure needed for mass production of the electric car.
She welcomed announcements of Chinese investment in European battery cell production in this context, describing the spread of the technology in the EU as "extremely important for the next decades".
Higher consumer demand for electric vehicles has witnessed a corresponding uptick in carmakers need for battery cells which can power them. At the moment, major industry representatives like Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW still largely rely on Asian imports of cutting-edge lithium-ion batteries.
Merkel promised business leaders at the BDI-hosted industrial conference that she was determined to overcome widely-publicized cabinet infighting and to turn her legislative attention to protecting the competitiveness of German companies in the future.
"I can understand you all well when you say that it already took so long to form a government and complain that now it still spends most of its time with self-involved activities," Merkel said.
As of November, she will have occupied the most senior political office of the Eurozone's largest economy for no less than 13 consecutive years.
Looking forward, Merkel noted on Tuesday that her government was confronted with external great challenges such as the protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and the growing likelihood of a disorderly departure of Britain from the EU.
Commenting specifically on the latter, she complained that British Prime Minister Theresa May did not appear to know what kind of Brexit she wanted and those last-minute negotiations during the next six to eight weeks to prevent Britain from crashing out of the bloc would hence be "very hard work".
