A compromise has been reached by conservative, social democrat, and liberal factions in the European Parliament regarding the plan to ease the gradual phase-out of combustion engine vehicles across the EU. According to the magazine “Spiegel”, this agreement paves the way for European institutions to settle on a reform of the CO2 limits for new cars.
The negotiators from the conservative EVP, the social democratic S&D, and the liberal Renew Europe faction reached this solution during the night before Tuesday. The agreement stipulates that the CO2 emissions of new cars in the EU will only need to drop to 87.5 percent of the 2021 baseline by 2035. As a result, the sale of new combustion and hybrid vehicles will remain permitted after 2035, preventing manufacturers from facing multi-billion-euro fines.
Alongside this compromise allows the automotive industry a strong incentive to switch to integrating sustainably produced steel. Under the proposed plans, steel emissions are set to fall by 95 percent. Manufacturers who utilize green steel, however, will be granted an additional allowance to reduce their emission limits by another 7.5 percentage points.
It should be noted that this agreement is not yet official. The three factions, who collectively form what is known as the “Mid-Platform” in the European Parliament, must still review the results of the overnight negotiations.
