EU urged again to rethink internal combustion engine ban

It was now “certain” that the ban – actually a zero limit on tailpipe emissions – would not be achieved, and the two countries plan to propose at an EU Council summit Thursday that a review clause in the legislation be brought forward from the end of 2026 to early 2025, said Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso.

Urso warned that the European car industry has "collapsed" and that "tens of thousands" of jobs could be lost if the EU does not change its rules.

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) is of a similar view, and after reporting a major decline in new electric vehicle registrations last week it called for urgent action from the EU to prevent further difficulties for the industry, including a call to put off the application of more stringent emissions limits.

There’s still 15 months of car sales ahead and the industry has time…to meet their targets,

a Commission spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday.

It is also worth recalling the target for 2025 was agreed in 2019 and…we have designed these policies in a way that the industry has time to adapt.

To reach its climate neutrality goal by 2050, the EU is taking action to reduce emissions from cars as road transport accounts for one fifth of the EU’s CO₂ emissions. The EU aims to cut emissions from cars 55% and from vans 50% by 2030, compared with 2021, in order to reach the goal of zero emissions from new cars and vans by 2035.

FROM 2035, ALL NEW CARS THAT COME ON THE MARKET CANNOT EMIT ANY CO2. THIS IS TO ENSURE THAT BY 2050, THE TRANSPORT SECTOR CAN BECOME CARBON-NEUTRAL.

The new rules don’t mean that all cars on the road have to produce zero CO₂ emissions by 2035. These rules don’t affect existing cars. If you buy a new car now, you can drive it until the end of its lifespan. But, because the average life span of a car is 15 years, we have to start in 2035 to aim for all cars to be CO₂-neutral by 2050.

Cover photo (for illustration purposes only): Getty Images