Germany backs EU approval of Tesla’s driver-assistance software

Germany will push for fast EU-wide approval of Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance system, transport minister Steffen Bilger said on Tuesday.

Elon Musk thanked him in German on X a day later, as Tesla tries to win over a bloc where it is so far cleared only country by country.

Speaking at a Tagesspiegel Background conference in Berlin, Bilger said an EU-level deal made sense, news agency dpa reported. If that fails, he added, Germany would look at what it can do alone, as it has not yet recognised the Dutch approval granted in April.

His ministry said Bilger met Tesla in September to discuss technical details and liability. In those talks, the two sides agreed the system may drive up to 10% above the speed limit, a position Germany will now argue for in Brussels, Reuters reported.

Tesla has also offered to change the system’s name. Full Self-Driving (Supervised) would become Tesla Assisted Driving, since the ministry sees the old name as misleading. The system can steer, brake, and speed up, but a driver must watch the road at all times.

“My goal is for Tesla drivers to be able to use the benefits of assisted driving across the whole EU as quickly as possible,” Bilger said in a statement.

Speeding has become one of the main obstacles to an EU-wide decision. Sweden and France are among the countries with concerns, according to Reuters. As a result, a vote by member states first due this month has slipped to December at the earliest.

Meanwhile, a Reuters special report published on Wednesday detailed Tesla’s lobbying campaign for European approval.

Experts who examined Tesla’s methodology for Reuters said the company’s own study gives no evidence for its claim that the system saves lives.

For Tesla, the stakes are both commercial and regulatory. The company has called approval key to lifting its European sales, where Chinese rival BYD outsold it in the first months of this year.