In March, the European Commission will propose a special amendment to the Regulation on CO2 emission standards for passenger cars and vans, which will allow manufacturers to average their performance over a three-year period (2025-2027) rather than submit annual reports.
This became known in connection with the publication of the EU Automotive Action Plan.
“The goals remain unchanged. They must fulfill them, but this means more breathing room for the industry. It also means more clarity without changing the agreed targets,” explained Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
The official claims that this decision strikes a balance between fairness for “early adopters – those who have successfully done their homework” and pragmatism and technology neutrality for stakeholders facing “difficult times”.
This year, the target for new cars sold in the EU is 93.6 grams of CO2/km. From 2030 to 2034, the target is 49.5 grams of CO2/km. Starting in 2035, only zero-emission vehicles are to be sold.
Today's Action Plan is accompanied by a communication on “Decarbonizing Corporate Fleets”, which highlights examples of best practices and encourages Member States to take further action to green corporate fleets, which account for about 60% of new car registrations.
In parallel, the European Commission is working on how to increase demand for European zero-emission vehicles. The published Action Plan includes measures that will provide incentives for the transition to zero-emission vehicles and strengthen consumer confidence through specific measures, such as improving the condition and maintainability of batteries.
Ursula von der Leyen also announced the creation and support of an industry alliance.
“Companies will be able to pool resources. They will develop joint software, chips and autonomous driving technologies,” she said.
To support the battery industry, the European Commission intends to gradually introduce European requirements for the content of cells and components, as well as continue to reduce red tape.
What about financing
To maintain a strong European manufacturing base and avoid strategic dependence, the EU will allocate €1.8 billion to create a secure and competitive supply chain for raw materials for batteries.
It also plans to invest around €1 billion in joint public-private investment in the industry with the support of the Horizon Europe program over 2025-2027 to help the industry become a leader in the transition to AI-driven, connected and automated vehicles.
What is the opinion of experts
Analytical company Kallanish Commodities surveyed industry experts about their opinion on the proposed relaxation of requirements for automakers. Here's what they had to say.
Members of the international non-profit association T&E, which advocates for clean transportation and energy, consider the proposed measure an “unprecedented gift” for the European automotive industry.
“Weakening EU rules on clean cars rewards the laggards and does little for the European automotive industry other than make it fall further behind China in electric vehicles. The EU risks creating very harmful uncertainty about the transition to electric vehicles in Europe,” said William Todts, Executive Director of T&E and a member of the EU Automotive Dialogue.
According to Chris Heron, Secretary General of the trade organization E-Mobility Europe, the new proposal could lead to 500,000 fewer electric vehicles entering the EU market in 2025, as there will be no need to meet the targets in 2025 and 2026.
“This uncertainty is bad news for investors in the EU charging infrastructure, battery production and e-mobility in general. Changing the rules in the middle of 2025 is unfair to automakers who have worked hard to comply with the law,” he says, pointing to the emergence of ‘big’ legal issues.
In December 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine postponed the transition to Euro 6 for 2 years. Also, at the end of January, we reported that an elite vintage car that did not meet Euro 2 environmental standards was arrested in Ukraine.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote about Uber's call for the EU to ban cars with internal combustion engines for corporate fleets by 2030.
