The EU looks set to scrap a landmark 2035 ban on new gasoline and diesel cars as part of a package of reforms aimed at supporting Europe’s embattled auto industry.
The ban was hailed as a major win in the fight against climate change when it was adopted in 2023, but automakers and their backers have lobbied hard over the past year for Brussels to relax it, in the face of fierce competition from China and a slower-than-expected shift to electric vehicles (EVs).
The European Commission was yesterday expected to propose replacing the ban with a less ambitious 90 percent emissions-reduction target, a move critics say risks undermining the EU’s green agenda and deterring investments in electrification.
Photo: Bloomberg
However, talks within the commission were going down to the wire ahead of an official announcement yesterday on what vehicles would be allowed to be sold after the deadline, EU sources said.
“This is a critical milestone for the future of the sector. There is a lot at stake,” European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) director-general Sigrid de Vries told a news conference on Monday, referring to the expected reforms.
The ban was a cornerstone of the EU’s environmental Green Deal, which has come under increased pressure from businesses and right-wing politicians, as Europe seeks to bolster its industry.
“There is a clear demand for more flexibility on the CO2 targets,” European Commission chief spokeswoman Paula Pinho told a news conference on Friday, saying Brussels was “aiming for balance.”
Automakers say the 2035 goal to have only electric vehicles sold in Europe, and an intermediate 2030 target, are no longer realistic.
High upfront costs and the lack of adequate charging infrastructure in parts of the 27-
nation bloc mean consumers have been slow to warm to EVs, producers say.
Just over 16 percent of new vehicles sold in the first nine months this year run on batteries, the ACEA said.
Automakers would like to see continued sales authorized for plug-in hybrids or those equipped with range extenders — small combustion engines that recharge the battery instead of powering the wheels.
Germany and some eastern European nations support this — despite questions about the vehicles’ green credentials, with a recent report indicating that plug-in hybrids pollute almost as much as gasoline-powered vehicles.
Others, like Italy, want to see the use of alternative fuels, such as those derived from agricultural crops and waste products, allowed.
That was a sticking point in talks yesterday morning, a commission source said.
Environmental groups oppose a massive take-up of biofuels, saying it would likely boost the use of pesticides, soil depletion and deforestation.
Manfred Weber, the conservative head of the EU parliament’s largest group, welcomed the new 90 percent emissions-reduction target, but said no engine should be banned, leaving the choice with consumers.
“Forbidding technologies” was a gift to far-right populists, he told a news conference.
The expected lowering of ambitions is set to displease the Nordic countries, Spain and to an extent France, which have long called for keeping to the planned trajectory in order not to harm firms that have invested in the transition to electric vehicles.
However, William Todts, director of the clean-transport advocacy group T&E, said he hoped obtaining concessions would help the auto industry move on and stay the course toward a green transition.
“I hope that if they get a little bit of what they want, they will stop poisoning the political debate,” he said, arguing that heated discussions had created confusion in the sector and among consumers.
The commission was also expected to unveil additional measures to support the sector, including plans for “greening” company fleets and encouraging production of small and “affordable” EVs.
France has advocated for a “European preference” compelling manufacturers that receive public subsidies to source components from within the bloc.
Road transport accounts for about 20 percent of total planet-warming emissions in Europe, and 61 percent of those come from cars’ exhaust pipes, the EU said.
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