EU: “Window” for cars with internal combustion engines after 2035

“Window” for the continued use of vehicles with internal combustion engines and after 2035, using renewable fuelsopened the EU Council of Environment Ministers.

In particular, while the original proposal adopted by the European Parliament provided for ban on the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines from 2035, (therefore only electric vehicles were allowed), the amendment adopted by the Council at its last meeting calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a framework will include the use of new vehicles with internal combustion engines after 2035, if they use exclusively neutral fuels.

The Council also calls on the Commission to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the Regulation in 2026, taking into account technological developments in plug-in hybrids, cost-effectiveness and social justice (given that electric vehicles are currently are more expensive than conventional and therefore inaccessible to the average consumer).

According to the information, the amendments were adopted following a proposal from Germany, while the first reaction of FuelsEurope, which represents the European refining industry, was positive.

Renewable fuels are produced with raw material agricultural waste, biomass, atmospheric carbon dioxide, etc. and not by processing fossil hydrocarbons. Therefore the pollutants emitted into the atmosphere from their combustion do not increase the total emissions.

Check out the news feed and stay up to date with the latest news.