EU climate plan: the 27 approve the end of combustion engines in 2035

The 27 EU member states approved on Tuesday night the Commission's plan to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars in Europe to zero from 2035, imposing de facto 100% electric engines.

 

This proposal, announced by the European executive in July 2021, will mean a de facto halt to sales of petrol and diesel vehicles in the EU from 2035. The measure should help achieve the continent's climate goals, in particular carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

At the request of some countries, including Germany and Italy, the EU-27 have agreed to consider a possible future green light for alternative technologies such as synthetic fuels or plug-in hybrids if they are able to achieve the objective of completely eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

 

EU environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg also approved a five-year extension of the exemption from CO2 obligations granted to niche manufacturers, or those producing fewer than 10,000 vehicles per year, until the end of 2035. This clause, sometimes called the Ferrari amendment, will benefit luxury brands in particular.

 

These measures must now be negotiated with MEPs, who also determined their position on the EU executive's proposal this month.

 

This is a great challenge for our automotive industry, acknowledged the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who chaired the meeting on Tuesday.

 

But she said it was a necessity in the face of competition from China and the United States, which has relied heavily on electric vehicles as the future of the industry.