The European Union’s final vote on legislation to ban the sale of new cars and vans that emit C02 emissions by 2035 — meaning any vehicle still equipped with an internal combustion engine — has been delayed.
The vote by the European Council, the body made up of EU member states’ heads of state or government, was due to take place on Tuesday but was delayed amid concerns that Germany would abstain, which could end up derailing the process.
A new date is yet to be announced.
Despite previously backing the legislation, part of Germany’s current coalition government last week expressed concern that the legislation does not sufficiently ensure that cars equipped with engines designed to run on carbon-neutral e-fuels such as which Aramco, Formula 1, and Porsche are developing, would be allowed to be sold beyond the 2035 cut-off. Germany would have automatically abstained from the vote if its coalition government did not agree.
After a meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday, the former said talks to resolve the dispute were constructive, Bloomberg reported.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing also said Monday he was optimistic the dispute could be resolved, according to the Bloomberg report.
However, ministers from other major EU car-producing countries, such as Italy and France, have also expressed concerns about exclusively adopting electric vehicles as a solution to achieving zero carbon emissions.
The proposed legislation calls for 55% less CO2 emissions from new passenger cars by 2030 compared to 2021 levels as an interim target, and finally 100% reduction by 2035. For vans, it will be a reduction of 50% in 2030 and 100% in 2035. .
The legislation is part of the EU’s overall plan to become climate neutral by 2050.
