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The European Parliament has agreed to set a deadline of 2035 for an effective ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars within the EU.
MEPs agreed to mandate carmakers to reduce average fleet emissions by 15 percent in 2025, 55 percent in 2030, and 100 percent in 2035, compared to 2021. The vote preserves a crucial component of the EU’s ambitions to reduce net global warming emissions by 55 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels – a target that necessitates speedier reductions in emissions from industry, energy, and transportation.
Conservatives, far-right MEPs, and even several progressive MEPs voted against a greater 2030 goal or higher 2020 targets that would force automakers to scale up electric vehicle sales sooner.
According to Transport and Environment, the move is “a huge step forward for climate action, air quality, and the affordability of electric vehicles.”
Attempts by certain legislators to lower the aim to a 90 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2035 were denied. However, the law is not yet final, as today’s vote only confirms the parliament’s position ahead of future negotiations with EU members on the final version.
When EU environment ministers meet on June 28, Transport and Environment have asked them to specify the effective termination date for sales of new combustion engines. Before beginning negotiations with the parliament, environment ministers will decide on their position on vehicle emissions objectives later this month. Then, the final law is expected to be agreed upon in the autumn.
Cars account for 12% of all transport emissions in Europe. In Europe, the transportation industry consumes 65 percent of all oil, almost all of which is imported.
According to Alex Keynes, the deadline of 2035 means that fossil fuel cars will be phased out, with the final set of fossil-powered cars sold off by the. According to him, this gives Europe a fighting chance to stop the seemingly unstoppable climate change. Alex, who currently is the clean vehicles manager at Transport and Environment, described the phase-out of the combustion engine as a historic chance to help reduce the world’s reliance on oil and “make us less vulnerable to despots. It also provides the assurance that the auto industry requires to ramp up manufacturing of electric vehicles, lowering driver pricing.”
Environmental ministers are expected to double down in 2035, leaving no room for detours into phony green solutions like e-fuels. Allowing synthetic fuels in automobiles would be a costly and inefficient distraction from the massive work of cleaning up transportation. Today’s battery electric vehicles provide a greener, less expensive, and more effective approach to reducing carbon emissions.
