EU Backing Down Off 2035 ICE Vehicle Ban

Don’t think the elite in the climate cult will give up, though. They love dictating how the peasants live their lives, while they themselves drive large fossil fueled SUVs and limos

EU set to ease 2035 combustion-engine ban amid auto industry pressure

The European Commission is expected to propose easing the European Union’s effective ban on sales of new combustion-engine cars from 2035 this Tuesday, as Brussels weighs how best to balance climate ambitions with growing pressure from governments and an auto industry facing fierce global competition.

The move, still being finalised ahead of its unveiling, could see the ban pushed back by up to five years or softened indefinitely, according to EU officials and industry sources.

The 2023 law requires all new cars and vans sold in the bloc from 2035 to be CO2-emission-free.

Any revision would mark the EU’s most significant rethink of its green transport policies in recent years, reflecting concerns from major member states such as Germany and Italy, and from automakers struggling to keep pace with lower-cost Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers and US rivals.

Money talks, and the sales of EVs are collapsing in the EU, plus, no one is saving money since the governments are slapping all sorts of taxes and fees on them to make up for the loss of road and gas taxes. And let’s not forget there are multiple layers between the citizens of European countries and the rulers on the European Commission, who basically dictate policies for EU countries.

“The European Commission will be putting forward a clear proposal to abolish the ban on combustion engines,” Manfred Weber, president of the European Parliament’s largest group, the European People’s Party (EPP), said on Friday. “It was a serious industrial policy mistake.”

Not all governments agree, however, as Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has urged the Commission to hold firm, warning that weakening the policy could undermine Europe’s efforts to build a globally competitive EV industry.

Would this be the same Pedro Sanchez who took a long, fossil fueled flight to COP30 in Brazil? I wonder if he travels in an EV?

Automakers are pushing to continue selling combustion-engine vehicles alongside plug-in hybrids, range-extender EVs and cars running on so-called CO2-neutral fuels, including e-fuels and advanced biofuels made from waste products. Von der Leyen said in October she was open to such alternatives.

“We recommend a multi-technology approach,” said Todd Anderson, chief technology officer at fuel-systems supplier Phinia, adding that the internal combustion engine would “be around for the rest of the century.”

Have they asked the citizens of the various European countries their thoughts? Or, are they irrelevant to the EU big wigs?