Munich City Hall Coalition Rejects Extending Diesel Driving Ban Unless Air Quality Deteriorates Again

The coalition in City Hall is determined not to extend the diesel driving ban in the fall unless the air on Landshuter Allee gets dirtier again. After the Greens, the SPD also announced on Wednesday that it would not ignite the second stage on October 1, 2023 as planned. As a result, after the Euro 4 diesels, vehicles with emission standard 5 are no longer allowed to drive on and within the Mittlerer Ring. A political debate has broken out about the motives behind the town hall coalition’s move away from further tightening.

“It’s not surprising to me. I already said a few months ago that I think it’s very likely that we won’t need the next stage of the measures, i.e. a ban on Euro 5 diesel. I’m happy that that the Green Mayor and the Green Group now see it that way,” said Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD). The reason for the current development is the nitrogen dioxide measurements from the first quarter of 2023. The average on Tegernseer Landstrasse and especially on Landshuter Allee has fallen compared to the annual average for 2022.

Although both main traffic routes are still above the permitted limit of 40 micrograms per cubic meter, the exceedances were only minor in the first twelve weeks. Tegernseer Landstrasse was 42, Landshuter Allee 44 micrograms. “If it were only a matter of minimal transgressions, the second stage of the driving ban would no longer be proportionate,” says SPD parliamentary group leader Anne Hübner.

The Greens and SPD did not impose the diesel driving ban in three stages out of their own motivation, but because of impending defeats in court. The German Environmental Aid had complained about compliance with the limit values; According to the city, it was facing a victory that could have resulted in an immediate, radical ban on diesel vehicles. The coalition negotiated the three-stage compromise that could now fall.

The first stage started on February 1st and banned Euro 4 diesel from the city center up to and including the Mittlerer Ring. Compared to the first quarter of 2022, the reading on Landshuter Allee has now dropped from 50 to 44 micrograms. “The clean air plan is working. Munich’s air is becoming cleaner,” Mayor Katrin Habenschaden summed up on Monday.

In turn, car owners are suing against this diesel driving ban because they find it disproportionate. One plaintiff, CSU member of parliament Robert Brannekämper, recently stated that he expects the judges to give a clear indication of the outcome of the proceedings before the fall. Brannekamper saw the coalition’s announcement as an “admission that you were obviously wrong from the start. The measured values ​​have been improving continuously for years”.

On Monday, the Greens reserved the right to only refrain from extending the driving ban if an expert report in the summer confirmed the decline in nitrogen dioxide levels. But even if that didn’t happen, the second stage could be stopped. Green City Councilor Florian Roth brought up a driving ban on diesel in the affected section of Landshuter Allee and possibly Tegernseer Landstrasse. For the opposition in the town hall, the initiative of the Greens shows one thing above all: that the environmental party wants to clear up an unpopular topic before the state elections on October 8th.

“A campaign miracle has happened: The Greens are moving away from their own diesel driving ban,” said Sebastian Schall, environmental expert for the CSU city council group. He doesn’t want to let the Greens boast about the air improvement: “After three rainy months, it’s dubious to rave about a working ban.” Values ​​have fallen before. The city must now immediately declare the waiver of the second stage, the CSU said. “If the Greens are serious about their about-face, they should immediately create clear conditions. Munich’s diesel drivers must know what to expect,” said parliamentary group leader Manuel Pretzl.

For the smaller opposition parties in the city council, the Greens’ braking maneuver also has no factual background, but a political one. “This has nothing to do with keeping the air clean, but with the current poll numbers and the upcoming state elections,” says Tobias Ruff from the ÖDP/Munich-List parliamentary group. Left spokesman Stefan Jagel also believes that the Greens are currently “doing everything to make themselves pretty”, possibly even to participate in the government in Bavaria.

In any case, Ruff considers the considerations of suspending the diesel driving ban to be premature, because the lower readings can also be attributed to the current rainy weather: “You first have to see what it’s like during a longer heat period when the air is still.” Jagel also demands: “You have to take a closer look at the values.”

Greens and SPD point out that they had to pronounce the ban. One wants to redesign the city and have fewer cars on the streets, but not in this way, said Greens parliamentary group leader Dominik Krause. They wanted to set incentives such as better local public transport or show what the city of the future could look like with the sidewalk cafés. The traffic turnaround must be “socially acceptable”. The coalition had emphasized from the start that a diesel driving ban could affect people with little money. That’s why she had allowed a number of exceptions.

However, the Greens and Social Democrats were also arguing on Tuesday as to who had implemented the essential defusing. Green party leader Krause said the opposition, especially the CSU, was “more than populism.” If the Greens hadn’t reacted to the current readings, they would have accused them of “ideological obstinacy”; after they had acted quickly, tactical calculation is now assumed. “How you do it, you do it wrong.”