BRUSSELS, Feb 14 (Portal) – The European Parliament on Tuesday formally approved legislation that would effectively ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the European Union from 2035, with the aim of accelerating the switch to electric vehicles and tackling climate change to fight.
The landmark rules will require automakers to achieve a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars sold by 2035, which would make it impossible to sell new fossil fuel vehicles in the Block of 27.
The law also provides for a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions for new cars sold from 2030 onwards compared to 2021 levels, which is much higher than the existing 37.5% target.
“The running costs of an electric vehicle are already lower than the running costs of a combustion engine vehicle,” said Jan Huitema, Parliament’s negotiator for the rules, adding that bringing more affordable electric vehicles to the market is crucial to consumers.
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EU countries agreed the deal with lawmakers last October, but have yet to formally approve the rules before they can come into effect. Final approval is expected in March.
New vans must meet a 100% CO2 reduction by 2035 and a 50% reduction by 2030 compared to 2021 levels.
Many car manufacturers in Europe have announced investments in electrification.
Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) boss Thomas Schäfer said last year that the brand would only produce electric cars in Europe from 2033.
Still, the EU law met with opposition from some sectors and countries when proposed in July 2021. As a result, the final deal includes some flexibilities, including allowing small automakers producing fewer than 10,000 vehicles a year to negotiate weaker targets through 2036.
The CO2 law for cars is part of a broader package of tougher EU climate action aimed at meeting the bloc’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions this decade.
(This story has been corrected to set the year in paragraph 2.)
Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Mike Harrison
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