The EU Commission checks the so-called combustion engine earlier than previously planned. EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas (46) announced in Brussels that this review should take place this year and not as originally planned in 2026. On Monday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (66; CDU) said that no technology was excluded from the outset during this review.
In addition, the EU Commission wants the ailing Auto industry Set back on track with an action plan. Specifically, in the plan presented in Brussels, five areas are mentioned that should have priority in the future: digitization, climate protection, competitiveness, workers and the international dimension of the industry. However, not everyone is satisfied with the suggestions.
One of the crucial points had the EU Commission President of the Leyen also announced on Monday. She wants to grant carmakers a “breathing space” by giving them more time to comply with EU climate protection requirements. However, it claims that the goals should remain the same.
For example, if you do not comply with the requirements for 2025, you can compensate for this by overfilling in the following years. So far, the car manufacturers had to comply with the limit values annually.
Does the combustion engine come off?
For a change, the Commission needs majorities in the European Parliament and among the EU countries. It is still unclear whether there is a directional dispute, especially in parliament. Because once the law is opened, it can theoretically be changed in several places.
The EU’s climate protection goals in particular have repeatedly questioned the EU. The focus is on the so-called combustion engine, i.e. the requirement that from 2035 no new cars with an internal combustion engine should be sold in the EU.
The Commission wants to touch the topic in the context of a later legal check and not in the change in the law announced for this month. “Here we expected significantly more and hoped for a clear commitment to the rapid revision of the burner ban,” said CDU MEP Jens Gieseke. Instead, it remains vague and unconcrete.
From the Leyen himself, exceptions to e-fuel had already promised to demand their party friends from the Middle Rights alliance EVP to reverse the burner. The FDP represented in the European Parliament had repeatedly spoken out against a combustion engine.
From the ranks of the Greens, there are fears that climate goals will come under the bikes, contrary to the commission’s assurances. The EU Commission opens the Pandora’s box, said Greens MP Michael Bloss. The EVP wants to turn more than just a few adjusting screws.
“The right are already ready to drive the Green Deal on the junkyard with them,” said Bloss. The Greenpeace environmental organization also criticized that the “breathing space” for industry could mean more combustioners on the streets, which also leads to more exhaust gases and health problems.
Boost
The Commission emphasizes that the EU automotive companies are behind key technologies. Therefore, an industrial alliance is to be founded in order to advance autonomous driving. This digital progress is to be supported by public-private investments of around one billion euros by 2027.
In addition, the EU countries are asked to do more to make company fleets more climate-friendly. The Commission also wants to propose a law. Electric cars are also to be helped to make more sales through a social leasing program. The SPD MP Bernd Lange would have liked a binding framework here and hoped for concrete incentives.