NEW FOSSIL-FUEL CARS WILL BE BANNED BY 2035, SAY EU LAWMAKERS

Thu 09 June 2022:

The European Parliament has passed a draft regulation that will ban the sale of new carbon-emitting vehicles beginning in 2035.

The vote preserves a crucial component of the European Union’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.

Lawmakers backed a plan by the European Commission last year to demand a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035, making fossil fuel-powered vehicles illegal to sell in the EU beyond that date.

“Fifteen percent of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from road transport. Cutting these emissions is vital if we’re going to reach our climate goals,” a group of Green Party EU lawmakers tweeted after the vote on Wednesday.

BREAKING: Great news from #Fitfor55 votes🎉@Europarl_EN votes to phase out 100% new combustion engine cars by 2035!

15% of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from road transport. Cutting these emissions is vital if we’re going to reach our climate goals! pic.twitter.com/gQbvg9qkv2

— Greens/EFA in the EU Parliament 🌍 (@GreensEFA) June 8, 2022

The aim is to speed Europe’s shift to electric vehicles and embolden carmakers to invest heavily in electrification, aided by another EU law that will require countries to install millions of vehicle chargers.

“Purchasing and driving zero-emission cars will become cheaper for consumers,” said Jan Huitema, the European Parliament’s lead negotiator on the policy.

Amendments tabled by conservative lawmakers aiming to avoid a full ban on vehicles with combustion engines failed to receive backing from a majority.

“The EU is steering its future transport policy on a one-way street towards e-mobility, to the detriment of technological openness, jobs and Germany as an industrial location,” Markus Ferber, a German EU lawmaker for the centre-right Christian Social Union (CSU), said in a press release.

Carmakers such as Ford and Volvo have officially backed the EU’s intention to phase out combustion engine vehicles by 2035, while others, such as Volkswagen, are aiming to phase out combustion engine vehicles in Europe by that date.

Industry groups, including the German auto association VDA, lobbied lawmakers to reject the 2035 target, which they said penalized alternative low-carbon fuels and was too early to commit to given the uncertain roll-out of charging infrastructure, according to emails obtained by the Reuters news agency.

“Our positions are transparent. It is our mission to develop the best solutions with everyone involved,” a VDA spokesperson said.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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