EU Automotive Package eases the path to 2035 while adding “Made in EU” conditions and tighter export rules

On 16 December 2025, the European Commission presented its Automotive Package, a set of interlinked legislative and policy measures designed to support the automotive sector's transition to clean mobility. The context is pressing: road transport remains a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, accounting for about 30% of CO₂ output. The regulatory backbone of the transition is Regulation (EU) 2019/631, which established progressively stricter CO₂ standards for new cars and vans and underpins the post-2035 rules governing the sale of new internal combustion engine cars.

Central to the package is increased compliance flexibility. The Commission has eased its stance on the post-2035 emissions rules for new combustion-engine cars, proposing changes that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European carmakers welcomed. The proposals have nonetheless drawn mixed reactions in Germany, a reminder of how politically charged the combustion-engine phase-out remains across the bloc.

Legal analyses point to a second, less emphasised dimension: growing “Made in EU” conditionality. The package pairs its increased compliance flexibility with conditions linked to EU-based production, a development with direct relevance for manufacturers and suppliers across Central and Eastern Europe, whose plants and component industries are closely tied to European vehicle supply chains. How these conditions are defined in practice will be a key file for the region's industry to monitor.

Used-vehicle traders and exporters face a separate set of changes. New rules for a more circular European automotive sector provide that from mid-2031, only roadworthy vehicles may be exported outside the EU, a measure intended to protect the environment and prevent end-of-life vehicles from being shipped out of the bloc as second-hand vehicles. For dealers active in the region's cross-border used-car trade, verifiable roadworthiness is set to become a basic requirement of export business. Sourcing channels are already in place for exactly this kind of stock: on WorldTrader24.de, a European marketplace listing more than 70,000 vehicles, dealers and buyers can identify roadworthy, export-ready vehicles and compare offers across markets.

For the wider dealer and fleet community, the package sends a dual message: the transition to clean mobility continues, but with more compliance room and more strings attached. As the sector digests the details, dealers and buyers adjusting their inventories around the shift can track the European supply of both electric and combustion models on WorldTrader24.de and source vehicles suited to the new requirements.