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.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
Separatists in Alberta are preparing to submit a petition tomorrow that they said has enough signatures to force a referendum on independence for the oil-rich Canadian province. Polls indicate the pro-independence camp remains a minority among Alberta’s 5 million people, but has hit a historic high of roughly 30 percent. Alberta separatists are also closer than ever to forcing a referendum, riding momentum fueled by intensifying grievances over Ottawa’s control of the provincial oil industry. They have also undeniably gotten a boost from the return to power of US President Donald Trump. After launching a petition in January, Stay Free Alberta, the group
RSS