On March 23, 2026, the Sixth Civil Panel of the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued judgments in cases VI ZR 334/23 and VI ZR 365/23, holding that private individuals lack a legal basis to compel automobile manufacturers to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles prior to the timeline established under applicable European Union law. The court affirmed lower court decisions dismissing the claims.

The plaintiffs, executive directors of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Environmental Action Germany), brought actions against major automobile manufacturers, including Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Mercedes-Benz AG. 

The defendants were undisputedly in compliance with all applicable statutory climate regulations. However, the plaintiffs argued that, based on the German Federal Constitutional Court’s climate decision, private corporations must adhere to a limited CO₂ “budget” derived from the Paris Agreement. They contended that excessive emissions by the defendants would indirectly infringe their fundamental rights—particularly the intertemporal dimension of the general right of personality under Article 2 of the Basic Law—by necessitating stricter future climate measures that could constrain their freedoms.

The plaintiffs sought injunctive relief to prohibit the defendants from marketing combustion-engine vehicles after October 31, 2030, and, under certain emissions thresholds, even earlier.

The cases were dismissed by lower courts. The case against BMW was dismissed in the Munich Regional Court I on February 7, 2023, a decision affirmed in the Munich Higher Regional Court on October 12, 2023. The case against Mercedes-Benz was dismissed in the Stuttgart Regional Court on September 13, 2022, a decision affirmed in the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court on November 8, 2023. 

On March 23, 2026, the Federal Court of Justice again affirmed the lower courts' decisions, holding that the plaintiffs are not entitled to injunctive relief. No actionable interference with a protected right was established for below reasons.

First, the court found no present or anticipatory violation of the plaintiffs’ general right of personality. The alleged “advance interference” theory failed because no legally binding, actor-specific CO₂ budget exists. While general emission limits can be derived from international and national frameworks, these do not impose individualized obligations on specific private entities or sectors.

Second, the court distinguished the case from the Federal Constitutional Court’s prior climate ruling, emphasizing that responsibility for allocating emission reductions lies with the legislature, not private actors.

Third, the court rejected tort liability. Any future restrictive climate legislation cannot be legally attributed to the defendants’ conduct. The manufacturers operate within the framework established by EU law—specifically Regulation (EU) 2019/631, as amended—which sets binding emissions targets and timelines, including a full phase-out target for new passenger car emissions by 2035. Compliance with this regulatory regime precludes additional judicially imposed obligations.

Finally, the court underscored the constitutional separation of powers. The balancing of climate protection against economic, social, and individual interests—particularly under Article 20a of the Basic Law—is a matter for the legislature, which retains broad discretion. Courts are not authorized to derive specific emission limits or reduction pathways from open-ended constitutional provisions.

The ruling confirms that there is no judicially enforceable right to an accelerated phase-out of combustion-engine vehicles beyond the timelines set by EU legislation. Responsibility for determining and implementing climate policy measures remains with the legislative branch.

No right to early combustion engine phase-out

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No right to early combustion engine phase-out - press release

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

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Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

No right to early combustion engine phase-out - press release

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Greenhouse gas

Economic sector