It’s a page of 150 years of automotive history that could be turned. The European Parliament has vote on June 8 in Strasbourg, by 339 votes for and 249 against, the end of the sale of new cars with thermal engines in 2035. The text could definitively lead to next autumn.
No more combustion engines (or almost) in 2035
On June 8, MEPs expressed their views on eight texts of the “Green Pact” project presented by the European Commission in July 2021. This pact, made up of fourteen laws, aims to reduce the Old Continent’s carbon emissions to 55% by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality in 2050.
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Among the texts, some were rejected by elected officials, but the ban on thermal cars has been validated by Parliament. The ambition of this legislation is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the automobile industry by 50% in 2030 and 100% in 2035.
? Historic vote in the European Parliament: MEPs vote for the end of thermal engines in new vehicles from 2035 ❌
This Commission proposal was presented last July as part of the #GreenPact ?#FitFor55 #EUGreenDeal #EPlenary
— European Commission ?? (@UEFrance) June 8, 2022
This confirms the virtual disappearance of the internal combustion engine, including for hybrid vehicles. Only electric and possibly hydrogen vehicles can be sold new in 2035.
A measure anticipated, not always willingly, by most car manufacturers like Renault, Peugeot, Citroën, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and others. Today, 8% of EU registrations were for electric vehicles in the first five months of the year, reports The world. This represents all 2019 sales.
The text’s rapporteur, Dutch MEP Jan Huitema, a member of the centrist Renew group, hailed a ” ambitious review “which he describes as” key to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 “. His colleague Pascal Canfin, chairman of the parliamentary committee on the environment, applauded on Twitter a ” major win “.
With the vote ending the sale of non-zero emission cars in 2035 we are making a historic decision that leads us into a new era of climate neutrality. It’s a major victory! @Renaissance_EU
—Pascal Canfin (@pcanfin) June 8, 2022
The day was tumultuous in Strasbourg. After the surprise rejection by the left and environmentalists of the reform of the European carbon market, deemed insufficiently ambitious, two other related texts were involved in this setback.
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This was not the case with the car regulation, despite an attempt by the EPP, the pro-European right, supported by the far right, to propose a reduction in emissions of only 90% in 2035. Le Monde notes that an exception was however retained, an amendment nicknamed “Ferrari”: as its name suggests, it spares luxury vehicles with internal combustion engines manufactured in fewer than 1,000 units.
The vote in the plenary session of Parliament is an important step for the adoption of the regulation, but it is far from being the last. It must be adopted by the European Council, bringing together the Heads of State and Government of the EU. On June 28, a European Council of Ministers of the Environment could see the text succeed. It will then be negotiated in trilogue, with the Council, the Parliament and the Commission, before its final adoption, probably around autumn 2022.