EU scraps
2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars to boost auto industry
Europe
The EU on
Tuesday walked back a 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars seen as a
milestone in the fight against climate change, as the bloc pivots to bolstering
its crisis-hit auto sector.
Issued
on: 16/12/2025 - 03:57
Modified:
16/12/2025 - 18:42
By:
FRANCE 24
Carmakers
and their backers lobbied hard for Brussels to relax the ban over the past year
– in the face of fierce competition from China and a slower-than-expected shift
to electric vehicles (EVs).
The EU's
industry chief, Stéphane Séjourné, insisted the bloc's green ambitions stood
intact as he put forward a plan billed as a "lifeline" for Europe's
auto industry.
"The
European Commission has chosen an approach that is both pragmatic and
consistent with its climate objectives," he said.
The
combustion-engine ban was hailed as a major win in climate fight when adopted
in 2023.
But
carmakers 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 EVs.
Weakening
the ban is the most striking result yet of a pro-business push that has seen
the EU pare back a slew of environmental laws this year – on the grounds they
risk weighing on growth.
In
practice, automakers will still be able to sell a limited number of polluting
vehicles – from plug-in hybrids to diesel cars – past 2035.
To do so,
they will have to compensate for the planet-warning emissions these cars spew
into the atmosphere through two types of carbon credits.
The first
will be generated by the use of made-in-Europe, low-carbon steel in car
manufacturing.
The
second will be outside carmakers' hands and tied to the amount of e-fuels and
biofuels that energy companies put on the market every year.
Germany's
Merz hails 'right step'
Beset by
announcements of job cuts and factory closures over the past year, Europe's
auto industry – which employs nearly 14 million people and accounts for about
seven percent of Europe's GDP – had maintained that the 2035 goal was no longer
realistic.
High
upfront costs and the lack of adequate charging infrastructure in parts of the
27-nation union mean consumers have been slow to warm to EVs, producers say.
Just over
16 percent of new vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2025 run on
batteries, according to industry figures.
German
Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday hailed the EU's weakening of its 2035 ban
on new petrol and diesel cars, saying that "more openness to technology
and greater flexibility are the right steps".
"It's
good that...the Commission is now opening up regulation in the automotive
sector," Merz said in a statement, adding that his government would now
"examine the European Commission's extensive proposals in detail".
Manfred
Weber, the conservative head of the EU parliament's largest group, welcomed the
new target, saying that "forbidding technologies" would be a gift to
far-right populists.
France
slams 'flexibility' for combustion-engine cars
Critics,
including Spain, France and the Nordic countries, had warned that ditching the
ban risked slowing the shift to electric, undermining the EU's green agenda and
deterring investments in electrification.
France
hit out Tuesday at the EU's decision to give carmakers flexibility on the sale
of combustion-engine vehicles beyond 2035, saying it hoped to stop the proposal
from becoming law.
"We
regret the flexibility granted for combustion-engine cars," Environment
Minister Monique Barbut said. "We will do all we can to have this
flexibility removed" when the auto sector support package is put to EU
member states for approval, she said.
Environmental
group Greenpeace also slammed the EU's "U-turn" on phasing out petrol
and diesel cars, accusing the bloc of "flogging a dead horse" by
diverting investments away from electric vehicles.
"This
backward industrial policy is bad news for jobs, air quality, the climate, and
would slow down the supply of affordable electric cars," said the group's
Germany executive director, Martin Kaiser.
"To
claim that tomorrow's jobs and innovations still lie in diesel or petrol
engines, when the rest of the world has embarked on an industrial race towards
batteries and electric vehicles, is to condemn the French and European
automotive industry to decline," said Neil Makaroff, director at Strategic
Perspectives, a think tank.
The
commission also unveiled a slew of additional measures to support the auto
sector as part of a package that needs approval from the EU parliament and
member states.
In the
run-up to 2035, carmakers will benefit from "super credits" for small
"affordable" electric cars made in the EU, in an accounting trick
that would make reaching emission targets easier.
This
would mean that sales of electric cars under 4.2 metres in length will be
counted 1.3 times, thus artificially boosting the share of zero-emission cars
in an automaker's fleet.
The
commission also proposed reducing the interim 2030 emission target for vans
from 50 to 40 percent and allowing truck manufacturers more time to meet their
own 2030 target, in line with a previous concession to automakers.
To boost
EV sales, medium and large firms will be required to green their fleets, which
currently account for about 60 percent of new car sales in Europe.
At least
30 percent of new vehicles bought by companies will need to be zero- or
low-emission, under targets that will differ from country to country, with the
bar set higher for richer nations.
Finally,
the EU will provide €1.5 billion to support European battery producers through
interest-free loans.
Road
transport accounts for about 20 percent of total planet-warming emissions in
Europe, and 61 percent of those come from cars' exhaust pipes, according to the
EU.
(FRANCE
24 with AFP)
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