No weekend driving: for now, it's a threat from the minister

It's a scenario that would fit into a comedy movie, but this case is no laughing matter.

Germans could be banned from driving at the weekend.

The threat comes from Germany's transport minister, who is demanding that the government meet its targets in the fight against climate change.

Minister Volker Wissing warns that reforms to the Climate Protection Act must be passed by July of this year.

"The fact that the amendment is not yet in force leads to considerable legal and factual uncertainties," Wissing wrote in a letter to the leaders of the parliamentary groups of the "traffic light" coalition that forms the German government.

"This serves neither the climate nor the reputation of the federal government," reads the letter shared by the Bild newspaper.

If the law doesn't come into force, the minister has alternatives: "comprehensive and indefinite driving bans on Saturdays and Sundays", added Wissing, who is aware that these would be clearly unpopular measures. But necessary, he believes.

It should be noted that for months there has been no agreement between the three parties in the governing coalition: the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Alliance 90/The Greens and the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP).

The minister in question is from the FDP and wants the climate law to be revised: climate targets will now be reviewed for compliance by looking at all sectors together, rather than individually.

If the overall target is not met for two consecutive years, the government must decide in which sector and with which measures the maximum permitted carbon dioxide emissions should be reached by 2030.

The deadline is July 15th. If it doesn't come into force by then, the Ministry of Digital and Transport will present an "immediate action program to ensure compliance with the transport sector's annual emission levels" by 2030 - and this is where the weekend driving ban comes in.

Internal criticism has already arisen. The parliamentary leader of the Greens, Julia Verlinden, shot back: "This statement is simply wrong. Wissing shouldn't annoy people unnecessarily because there are other ways of dealing with climate issues, such as a Speed Limit."

Let's remember that there is no speed limit on the vast majority of German highways.