The European Parliament has given the definitive green light to the agreement, reached by the EU Council in November 2022, on the stop new registrations of polluting cars starting from 2035. This means, therefore, all vehicles with internal combustion engines, fueled by petrol or diesel. In the Plenary Assembly, the law received 340 votes in favour, 279 against and 21 abstentions.
What does the standard require?
The provision is part of the European “Fit for 55” package, a series of reforms to reduce the environmental impact of strategic economic sectors, and intends to establish the path towards the total zeroing of CO2 emissions from the automotive industry. The main purpose is to reduce the emissions of these vehicles by 100%. compared with 2021, setting an intermediate target of 2030 with a reduction of 55% for cars and 50% for vans. By 2025, the European Commission will present a method through which the institutions will be able to calculate and communicate data on the emissions released during the life cycle of a car or a van for sale on the market. It will always be the Commission’s task, but by December 2026, to monitor the gap between the limits set by the legislation and the real values on fuel and energy consumption in each Member State. Furthermore, it will present a further methodology aimed at manufacturers with rules for adaptation.
The mini waiver
Manufacturers are expected to fully exempt fewer than 1,000 vehicles in any one year. For those with limited production value (between one thousand and 10 thousand cars or between one thousand and 22 thousand vans per year) a derogation is foreseen until the end of 2035. A specification that concerns, in particular, the car manufacturers that produce luxury cars, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, which however are also those that have invested the most in electricity. Every two years the European Commission will publish a report highlighting i progress made in the field of zero-emission mobility. The first is already set for 2025. “All these objectives will offer clarity for the automotive industry and will stimulate innovation and investment by manufacturers – said Jan Huitema, rapporteur at the Eurochamber -. Buying and driving zero-emission cars will become less burdensome for consumers and will lead to a rapid development of the second-hand market. Driving sustainably will become accessible to everyone.”
Hundreds of jobs and dependence on China
The European Parliament’s decision “will cost Europe hundreds of thousands of jobs and leave a vital European industry dangerously dependent on batteries, raw materials and rare earths of dubious origin and availability. This is why we voted against», commented Pietro Fiocchi, MEP of the Brothers of Italy and shadow rapporteur for the ECR of the CO2 emissions dossier for cars and vans. “What is also important is that we will become totally dependent on non-European countries, especially China, for example for microchips, lithium and cobalt. The environmental impact in some countries such as Africa, where important raw materials for electric cars are extracted, is terrible. We must therefore keep them in the context of the CO2 reduction we hope for. My hope is that we will be more realistic when discussing the reduction of CO2 emissions for heavy vehicles and agricultural vehicles».