The European Parliament approved a plan on Tuesday that will mean that from 2035 only new electric cars will be sold, with petrol and diesel cars reaching the end of the road. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars and vans by 100% compared to 2021.

The agreement is considered historic, especially since the electric car is not accepted everywhere, and now electric cars are expensive.

“The regulation encourages the production of low- or zero-emission vehicles. It includes an ambitious revision of the 2030 targets and a zero-emissions target for 2035, which is essential to achieve climate neutrality by 2050,” says rapporteur Ian Uitema.

Parliament approves new CO2 reduction targets for new cars and light commercial vehicles as part of Get 55 package

By 340 votes to 279 with 21 abstentions, MEPs approved an agreement reached with the Council to revise CO2 performance standards for new cars and vans in line with the Union’s more ambitious climate targets.

After the final vote in plenary, the text must also be formally approved by the Council, and shortly thereafter it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The new legislation sets a path to zero carbon emissions for new cars and light commercial vehicles by 2035. This is a Europe-wide target to reduce CO2 emissions from cars and 100% of new vans compared to 2021.

Intermediate emission reduction targets by 2030 were set at 55% for passenger cars and 50% for vans.

Other significant measures provided for by the provision:

By 2025, the Commission will introduce a methodology for estimating and reporting the life-cycle CO2 emissions of cars and vans sold on the Union market. The report will be accompanied by legislative proposals, if necessary.

Until December 2026, the Commission will monitor the gap between emission limits and fuel and energy consumption in real driving conditions. It will also prepare a report on the methodology for adjusting manufacturers’ specific CO2 emissions and propose measures to be taken.

Manufacturers responsible for small production in a calendar year (between 1,000 and 10,000 new cars or between 1,000 and 22,000 new vans) can receive a waiver until the end of 2035, while manufacturers registering fewer than 1,000 new vehicles per year will continue to benefit benefits of existing exemptions.

The existing incentive mechanism for zero and low emission vehicles (ZLEVs), which rewards manufacturers who sell more of these vehicles (with emissions between zero and 50g CO2/km, such as electric vehicles and performance hybrids) by applying targets of lower reduction of CO2 emissions, adapt to expected vehicle sales trends. Between 2025 and 2029, the ZLEV benchmark will be 25% for new car sales and 17% for new vans, phased out from 2030.

Every two years from the end of 2025, the Commission will publish a report to assess progress towards zero-emission road mobility.

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