BRAUNSCHWEIG (dpa-AFX) - In a climate protection lawsuit against Volkswagen, the Braunschweig Regional Court has given the three plaintiffs backed by Greenpeace little hope for their claims. According to a preliminary legal assessment, the lawsuit is admissible but is unlikely to have much chance of success, the presiding judge made clear on Tuesday. In the civil case, the three plaintiffs want to achieve, among other things, that the carmaker is prohibited from selling combustion engines from 2030.

Another goal of Greenpeace directors Roland Hipp and Martin Kaiser, as well as Fridays for Future activist Clara Mayer, is to require VW to reduce CO2 emissions by 65 percent by 2030 compared to 2018. But this plan was put a damper on in the packed Braunschweig courtroom on Tuesday. According to court spokesman Bastian Willers, the plaintiffs, of whom only Kaiser and Mayer came to the start of the trial, are arguing with their fundamental rights. According to him, however, these apply directly in the relationship between citizens and the state.

The Braunschweig civil chamber explained its preliminary assessment with the low chances of success for the plaintiffs. "The special feature here is that private individuals on the plaintiff's side and a privately acting company on the defendant's side are facing each other," said court spokesman Willers. In this relationship, fundamental rights have no direct effect.

Volkswagen was essentially confirmed in its view. "It was a good day, we are very satisfied with the court's assessment," said VW lawyer Wolf Spieth. In the implementation of climate protection, the priority lies with the legislator, he said, where action must be taken. The court also saw that VW was carrying out a permitted and approved activity.

The lawyer of the three plaintiffs, Roda Verheyen, announced to want to go with a suitable judgement into appeal. She also did not want to speak of a complete defeat, because the court considers the action at least admissible. "We are in the middle of the dispute and that is good," Verheyen said. But what the court said beyond admissibility was not her legal opinion and was dogmatically wrong, she said. The court plans to announce a decision on Jan. 31.

Shortly thereafter it is to go in February with a similar procedure at the regional court Detmold further. With the lawsuit there, farmer Ulf Allhoff-Cramer wants to enforce that VW stops selling cars and light commercial vehicles with combustion engines in 2030. He came to Braunschweig on Tuesday for the moral support of the plaintiffs.

In addition to VW, other automakers have faced and continue to face climate protection claims in various courts. The German Environmental Aid, for example, took action against BMW and Mercedes-Benz. In the dispute with BMW, the Munich Regional Court will announce its verdict in February. A similar lawsuit filed by the association against Mercedes was dismissed by the Stuttgart Regional Court in September.

The EU Parliament and the EU Commission want to ban the registration of new combustion engines from 2035. This does not apply to used cars with classic drives./bch/DP/he