The EU Commission’s proposal is now clear: The total ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2035 onwards will be scrapped. Instead, a reduction in emissions by 90 percent is proposed.
The EU is loosening the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from the year 2035. Instead of a total ban, the European Commission proposes that the emissions from new cars sold in Europe be reduced by 90 percent, which opens the door for continued sales of cars with internal combustion engines, mainly hybrids and plug-in hybrids. The manufacturers who do so will, however, be forced to compensate for the emissions, for example through the use of biofuels or green steel produced in the EU.
The EU’s goal of being a climate-neutral union by 2025 is firm. The total ban on cars with internal combustion engines was hammered out by the European Parliament in 2023 as part of reaching the goal of climate neutrality.
Ever since then, the ban has met with stiff resistance, mainly from German manufacturers, but also Italy, Poland and Bulgaria. France and Spain, on the other hand, want to keep the ban in place, citing that many billions of euros have already been invested in electrification and that the decision should therefore stand.
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Some manufacturers, including Volvo, have argued that the total ban should remain. In an interview with Dagens Industri, Volvo Cars CEO Håkan Samuelsson explained why.
– In order to cope with the competition against China, it is necessary to build up our own home market in Europe and become a leader for electric cars. You never become a leader if you try to slow down the pace of development, said Håkan Samuelsson to Dagens Industri.
Others have said that the target for 2035 had been impossible to reach, with an electric car share that this year until October was around 18 percent in Europe. Developments have varied greatly: in some northern and northern European markets, electric cars now form a majority, while in parts of southern and eastern Europe the share is still only at single-digit levels.
A detailed proposal is to be presented by the European Commission during the next year and then decided by the European Parliament.
