On Wednesday 8 June, MEPs in Strasbourg adopted the report by Jan Huitema (Renew Europe, Netherlands) on tightening CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (339 votes in favour, 249 against, 24 abstentions) (see EUROPE 12950/10).
“This is a revolution, because there will be no more new petrol and diesel vehicles offered for sale in Europe from 2035. And it is a defeat for the car lobbies who would like to continue milking the revenue from fossil fuels. However, this model is at its last gasp, it is no good for either the climate or jobs”, said European Parliament Transport Committee chair Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France).
Welcomed by a good number of MEPs, the text had nevertheless deeply divided the political families within the European Parliament.
The EPP - which tabled a number of amendments - said that the door should have been “left open” to other CO2 -neutral technologies and that attention should have been paid to the job losses in the sector that would result from a ban on the sale of internal combustion vehicles.
“Today, a majority of the European Parliament has openly abandoned the principle of technological neutrality. The internal combustion engine must be banned. However, the internal combustion engine has great potential, especially with synthetic fuels”, said Jens Gieseke (EPP, Germany).
“Structuring should be left to manufacturers and customers. Unfortunately, the Greens, Liberals and Social Democrats prefer to put all their eggs in the electric mobility basket. This does not help the global climate or European competitiveness”, he added, saying that these groups were “happy to accept the loss of almost half a million jobs”.
On this point, Ms Delli was reassuring. “We will have 13 years to avoid the social break-up that is taking place in the automotive sector. If we give ourselves the means, we will succeed in making the great technological shift and relocating industrial sectors in France and Europe”.
“I have no quarrel with the EPP, which has been a faithful mouthpiece for the car and fossil fuel lobbies. They tried to weaken the text by amendment and to keep a very polluting industry on life support. 2035 now marks the end of the old world in the car industry”, added Delli.
For others, such as Pascal Canfin, the approval of this report indicates that the objectives of the Paris Agreement remain achievable. “If we did not end the sale of combustion vehicles in 2035, then we would have given up on climate neutrality”, he said, calling the approach of the right “a thing of the past”.
Finally, for some MEPs from The Left group, the text as voted on Wednesday will be a step forward, but will only solve part of the problem.
“The text makes it possible to repatriate the construction of batteries in Europe, but the question of accessibility remains. The electric vehicle vouchers benefit mainly those who can afford the vehicles”, concluded Manon Aubry (The Left, France). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)