Petrol cars before the big return Is the EU now putting a complete stop to the end of the combustion engine?
The EU Commission wants to review the so-called combustion engine phase-out this year instead of next year. Von der Leyen had already promised a technology-neutral approach on Monday.
06.03.2025, 10:39
dpa
The EU Commission is reviewing the so-called combustion engine phase-out earlier than previously planned. EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas announced in Brussels that this review will take place this year and not in 2026 as originally planned. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) had already said on Monday that no technology would be excluded from this review from the outset.
In addition, the EU Commission wants to get the ailing car industry back on track with an action plan. Specifically, the plan presented in Brussels names five areas that are to be prioritized in the future: Digitalization, climate protection, competitiveness, employees and the international dimension of the industry. However, not everyone is happy with the proposals.
Climate protection
One of the key points was also announced by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday. She wants to grant car manufacturers "breathing space" by giving them more time to comply with EU climate protection requirements. However, she asserts that the targets should remain the same.
Those who do not meet the targets for 2025, for example, can make up for this by overfulfilling them in subsequent years. Previously, car manufacturers had to meet the limits every year.
Majority required
The Commission needs a majority in the European Parliament and among the EU member states to make a change. It is still unclear whether there will be a dispute over direction, especially in Parliament. Because once the law is opened up, it can theoretically be amended in several places.
MEPs from the far right in particular have repeatedly questioned the EU's climate protection targets. The focus is, for example, on the so-called combustion engine phase-out, i.e. the requirement that no new cars with combustion engines should be sold in the EU from 2035.
Is the end of the combustion engine coming now?
The Commission wants to address the issue as part of a later legislative review and not in the legislative amendment announced for this month. "We expected much more here and hoped for a clear commitment to a swift revision of the ban on combustion engines," said CDU MEP Jens Gieseke. Instead, it remains vague and unspecific.
Von der Leyen herself had already held out the prospect of exemptions for e-fuels, while her party colleagues from the center-right EPP alliance are calling for the ban on combustion engines to be reversed. The FDP, which is represented in the European Parliament, has also repeatedly spoken out against a ban on combustion engines.
There are fears among the Greens that, contrary to the Commission's assurances, climate targets will be compromised. The EU Commission is opening Pandora's box, said Green MEP Michael Bloss. The EPP wants to do more than just turn a few screws.
"The right-wingers are already ready to join them in taking the Green Deal to the scrapyard," said Bloss. The environmental organization Greenpeace also criticized that the "breathing space" for the industry could mean more combustion engines on the roads, which would also lead to more exhaust fumes and health problems.
Boosting innovation
The Commission emphasizes that EU automotive companies are lagging behind in key technologies. An industrial alliance is therefore to be established to promote autonomous driving. This digital progress is to be supported by public-private investment of around one billion euros by 2027.
The EU states are also being called upon to do more to make company fleets more climate-friendly. The Commission also intends to propose a law to this end. Electric cars are also to be helped to increase sales through a social leasing program. SPD MEP Bernd Lange would have liked to have seen a binding framework here and hoped for concrete incentives.
