The European Parliament's Environment Committee has scaled back the CO₂ reduction target for cars, giving initial approval this week to a backtracking on the 2035 ban on new internal combustion engines. The file now moves to the December plenary session, where MEPs will be called on to endorse the position — the step that would grant Parliament its mandate for interinstitutional negotiations with the Council of the EU. The report was steered by a Forza Italia rapporteur, underlining the political momentum behind the rethink.
The vote arrives as industry calls for a deeper rewrite grow louder. A German automotive task force is urging a comprehensive overhaul of EU emissions rules, proposing a separate category for vehicles powered exclusively by biogenic fuels and electricity-based synthetic fuels. On the EU fleet regulation, the task force advocates incentives rather than strict quotas — a direct challenge to the compliance-driven framework that has shaped manufacturer product plans across the continent.
Behind the regulatory file sits a strategic question: whether Brussels can meet the China challenge. Analysts warn that allowing European industrial capacity to deteriorate without a coherent response would leave the continent increasingly dependent on foreign automotive technologies. The decisive test for EU policy, they argue, will be whether it enables European manufacturers to compete — a framing that has fused emissions policy with industrial policy.
