The new commissioner in charge of transport at the European Commission, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, has confirmed: the tightening of anti-pollution laws in 2025 and the ban on the sale of thermal cars in 2035 remain in force. No postponement or relaxation of the rules seems to be envisaged.
For several years, public authorities have been doing everything to develop the electric car market. And for good reason, this engine is considered more environmentally friendly than gasoline or diesel, which has also been confirmed by countless studies.
No postponement of the objective
This is particularly why the European Union has decided to purely and simply ban the sale of thermal vehicles on its territory from 2035. There will only be a few small exceptions for manufacturers who sell less than 1,000 cars per year, but all others will be subject to this measure. And obviously, this does not only make people happy, since certain countries like Germany have refused this decision, in order to protect their automobile industry which still depends a lot on fossil fuels.
But while sales of electric cars are stagnating in Europe, the question of postponing this measure is coming back to the fore. What about today? Will Brussels consider making a small gesture for manufacturers who risk having difficulty achieving the set objective? Well the institution has spoken out on the subject, through its new commissioner in charge of transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostasreported by the site Politico. And the latter did not take a pinch of salt on this subject, dashing all the last hopes of relaxation.
The politician indeed affirmed that “ We have precise rules and objectives that we want and we have to stick to the plan. Otherwise, the message that the European Union will send is not one of stability and confidence “. This at least has the merit of being clear on the issue, since he goes on to explain that “ we know very well that technology advances ».
From 2025, that is to say next year, Brussels is aiming for a 25% reduction in these, in accordance with what was voted by the European Parliament at the beginning of 2023. Then, this figure will reach the bar of 100% ten years later, by 2035. And that will not change, even if all the lights are still far from being green.
What about CAFE regulations?
Apostolos Tzitzikostas also returned to the objectives concerning reducing CO2 emissions – the famous CAFE regulation (Corporate Average Fuel Economy). As a reminder, the latter requires achieving an average CO2 emissions for all new cars sold per year in Europe. It will be tightened in 2025, forcing manufacturers to sell around 25% of electric cars to achieve this – otherwise, the fine will be steep: 95 euros per additional gram and per car sold.
A toughening contested by the automobile industry. The reason: sales of electric cars are not celebrating in Europe, and are also in decline in France. In addition, several manufacturers have chosen to abandon their objective of only offering electric cars in their catalog from 2030. This is particularly the case of Ford and Volvo, although they are particularly committed to the electrification of its range in recent years.
But faced with the disenchantment with this engine, due largely to the reduction of purchasing aid in Europethe strategy has changed. But if the situation in the automobile industry is currently very worrying, isn't the forced switch to all-electric likely to make things worse?
Not according to Apostolos Tzitzikostas, who explains that there is no reason to worry, and specifies: “ we must do everything in our power to ensure that [le secteur automobile] survive. The automotive industrial plan will provide answers to all these skepticisms you may have ».
However, for the moment, there is precisely no no concrete plan to protect the industry while orchestrating its massive electrification, Tzitzikostas simply announcing a presentation “at the start of the mandate”. Not necessarily very reassuring to hear for a sector which employs 14 million people in the European Union.
