The EU closes the agreement that will prohibit the sale of combustion and hybrid cars from 2035

BRUSSELS, 28 Oct. () –

Last night, the negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement in principle so that from 2035 new cars and vans that are marketed in the European Union are “zero emissions”, which will mean the prohibition of marketing combustion vehicles , which includes gasoline, diesel and hybrids.

The terms of the agreement, which still need the approval of the Twenty-seven and the plenary session of the European Parliament to be adopted, foresee a gradual advance towards the goal of zero emissions in 2035, with a reduction objective of 55% for passenger cars and 50 % for vans in 2030 compared to 2021 emissions.

The new rule is part of the climate package that the European Union wants to promote this legislature to reduce by at least 55% the bloc’s polluting emissions on the horizon of 2030 (compared to 1990) and is the first concrete measure of that battery of initiatives that goes ahead

Among the keys to the reform is the commissioning of a new methodology to collect and evaluate data on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the light automobile fleet throughout the life cycle of vehicles marketed in the single market. The Community Executive must present this methodology no later than 2025, included with the legislative reforms if they are necessary for its development.

Brussels is also commissioned with this new regulation to carry out a biannual report from 2025 to assess whether progress is being made at the right pace in the EU as a whole towards the binding goal of zero emissions; an analysis that must also assess the impact of the reform on consumers and employment as well as the evolution of the second-hand vehicle market.

In the control of the emissions of new vehicles, the community experts will monitor the difference between the emission limit values ​​and the actual fuel and energy consumption data to gradually adjust the average specific CO2 emissions of the manufacturers from 2030.

“This agreement is a strong signal to the sector and to users”, celebrated the vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, for whom the automobile industry has already shown that it is prepared to “take a step forward” by increasing the supply of electric cars at “more affordable” prices.

The European Commission, which presented the proposal in July last year, applauds the quick agreement between the European co-legislators because it believes that it will result in an “acceleration” in the production and sale of private and light vehicles that meet the “zero emissions” requirement. “.

The negotiators of the agreement also point out the convenience of the Member States using part of the European funds available to them to support the “green transition” towards non-polluting vehicles, especially with support for SMEs in the supply chain of the automotive sector the most vulnerable regions.

The agreement also maintains the incentive mechanism for zero-emission and low-emission vehicles (ZLEV) that allows manufacturers to reduce their emission targets and that the negotiators of the European Parliament wanted to suppress considering that it no longer fulfilled its purpose.

However, the reference values ​​will be revised to harden them so that the emission credits that they will be able to receive for “eco-innovations” that demonstrate that they reduce polluting emissions on the road will be reduced by up to 4 g/km per year from 2030 to 2034 (compared to current 7 g/km per year).

The new rules provide for a derogation until the end of 2035 for manufacturers that do not produce more than 10,000 new passenger cars per year or 22,000 vans, while those that do not reach 1,000 registrations per year will be exempt.

The agreement includes a “review clause” by which the European Commission must evaluate the rate of achievement of the objectives and the possible need to adjust them if there are technological advances that allow progress to be made at a faster rate. The first review should be done in 2026.