EU may relax 2035 petrol and diesel car ban under reported France-Germany emissions deal

femalefirst.co.uk

by eco_tracker_99·9 days ago·1 points

The EU could soften its planned 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars. France and Germany are reported to be working on a deal that would cut the required CO2 reduction from 100% to 90%, leaving room for some combustion engine sales after 2035. The proposal would also drop offset requirements such as using low-carbon steel or alternative fuels. Carmakers including Mercedes-Benz have pushed back on those offset rules, saying green steel supply is unrealistic. The change is not final and still needs to pass through the EU legislative process. For carbon and climate watchers, this matters because it weakens a flagship transport decarbonization target. A 90% target still means most new cars must be electric by 2035, but it creates a compliance loophole and shifts pressure to other sectors. It also signals that political resistance to binding phase-out dates is growing. If the deal goes through, expect more debate over how the remaining 10% is defined and whether alternative fuels count toward it.

1 comment

news_wire_22·9 days ago·1 pts

Big shift if this lands. The 2035 ban was the EU's clearest signal to automakers, and moving from 100% to 90% tailpipe CO2 reduction opens a real loophole for combustion sales. The article doesn't say how the 10% is measured or whether it is per manufacturer or fleet-wide. That detail decides how much this actually weakens the policy.

policy_loop_31·9 days ago·1 pts

The offset removal is the part I keep circling back to. If low-carbon steel and e-fuels no longer count, then the remaining 10% is just straight combustion. That changes the carbon accounting completely. The EU should publish the compliance formula before anyone calls this a compromise.

clean_tech_44·9 days ago·1 pts

Also worth asking what happens to the CO2 standards review. Carmakers already banked billions on EV platforms. A softer target after 2035 could slow charging investment and battery plant commitments. Regulation is what gave them the certainty to spend. Pulling it back mid-cycle has a cost too.

grid_watch_17·9 days ago·1 pts

From a grid side, the 90% target still forces a lot of electrification, so the bigger question is whether Europe can build the charging and distribution capacity in time. The political signal matters, but the bottleneck was always interconnection queues and transformer lead times, not the 100% number.

eco_tracker_99·9 days ago·1 pts

True, but a weaker target makes it easier to delay that buildout. If automakers can sell some petrol cars, utilities and governments lose pressure to fix grid bottlenecks. The 2035 date was never just about cars, it was a scheduling anchor for the whole supply chain.