The Ministry of Economy has labelled the abrupt end to the electric car incentive as an “unfortunate situation.”
Government funding for electric car purchases is set to expire this Sunday, much earlier than anticipated.
The Federal Ministry of Economy is now defending itself against criticism for the sudden end to the funding program.
“It’s not an easy decision to end the environmental bonus now,” said a spokesperson for the Green Party-led ministry.
The suspension of the funding program was “a direct consequence of the Federal Constitutional Court ruling and the subsequent budget consolidation,” they continued.
“We are very sorry and acknowledge that it is an unfortunate situation for those expecting funding.”
However, the short-term expiration of the funding program became necessary “because there is no longer enough money available to consider applications received after Sunday.”
The spokesperson added that the decision to end short-term funding was “made in conjunction with the Federal Chancellery; therefore, we reject unilateral criticism in this regard.”
According to information from the ministry, the accusation of “unilateral criticism” referred to statements from the SPD parliamentary group.
They described the short-term expiration of funding as “extremely unfortunate” and called on Federal Minister of Economy Robert Habeck (Greens) to “organize a reliable transition here.”
However, “all available funds for the budget year 2023 have already been depleted,” stated Habeck’s ministry.
The €209 million still earmarked for 2024 “will only be sufficient if funding expires immediately.”
According to information from the AFP news agency, around 1,400 applications were recently received each day.
Source: Spiegel Wirtschaft
