Will the hard ban on combustion engines come to an end?

New position paper in the EU Parliament

Is the end of the strict ban on combustion engines coming now?

The largest group in the EU Parliament wants to relax the planned ban on combustion engines. You have several exceptions in mind.

The largest group in the EU Parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP), wants to weaken the planned ban on combustion engines. In a position paper seen by Reuters, the EPP advocates lifting the ban on the sale of new CO2-emitting cars from 2035.

Instead, cars with combustion engines that run on biofuels and alternative fuels should also be allowed to be sold after this date. The EPP also calls for support for plug-in hybrids.

The background is the difficulties of the European automotive industry, which is struggling with weak demand, Chinese competition and low sales figures for electric vehicles. The EPP proposes to postpone the 2025 CO2 limits to 2027 and consider a more lenient compliance calculation for car manufacturers.

The position paper is scheduled to be published on Wednesday. The EPP has considerable political influence as the majority of the 27 members of the new European Commission come from its ranks, including President Ursula von der Leyen.