Climate Change

Right-wing victors in European election seek to scrap 2035 ban on combustion engines

cars-combustion-engine-eu-ban

Photo: Pexels

Published

June 11, 2024

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

June 11, 2024

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

The success of right-wing parties and the weakening of the Greens in the European election have raised concerns about the future of the European Green Deal. As soon as the results were in, Manfred Weber, leader of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), said the party would immediately push to scrap the 2035 ban on the sale of cars with internal combustion engines.

Weber added, however, that there would be no revision of the Green Deal as a whole, as most of the laws under the package have already passed the European Parliament. At the same time, Czech MEP Alexandr Vondra said that Europe’s climate policy would become more “realistic” over the next five years, according to Politico.

The 2035 ban on combustion engines “needs to go”

Peter Liese, the EPP’s lead climate lawmaker, said the election results justified the party’s vision for a less restrictive Green Deal and he specifically mentioned the plan to overturn the combustion engine ban. “We’ll need to make some adjustments. The ban on combustion engines — that needs to go,” said Liese, as the EPP announced it had won the most seats in the European Parliament.

The EPP plans to make adjustments to the European Green Deal, but stay on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050

Liese also said that despite the planned scrapping of the ban, there would be no backsliding in terms of the EU’s climate targets for 2050.

Politico noted, however, that even scrapping the ban might not be that easy given that the EPP’s lead candidate, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, was the one who introduced the ban and backed it while campaigning for a second term.

Efforts to cut farming emissions might also be hampered

Apart from the EU’s ban on cars with combustion engines, another area of the Green Deal that might be affected is agriculture, which the EPP has pledged to protect from more aggressive climate regulation, Politico noted.

This is despite warnings by independent science advisers that the EU must not only maintain the existing policies but do much more, especially on farming emissions.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

belgrade energy forum bef 2025 western balkans region cooperation

BEF 2025: Regional cooperation can facilitate energy transition, energy security

22 May 2025 - Belgrade Energy Forum featured representatives from the governments of Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Srpska, and Serbia, and from UNECE

Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 sponsors

Everything is ready for Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 – welcome!

11 May 2025 - On May 14 and 15, Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 will gather four hundred participants from more then 30 countries from the region, Europe, and beyond

Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 BEF 2025 EU Southeast Europe

Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 – top delegations coming from EU, Southeast European countries

07 May 2025 - Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 features eight panel discussions and more than 50 speakers: distinguished energy experts and representatives of energy companies

us DOE Secretary Chris Wright Three Seas Business Forum europe

US wants Central Europe to join ‘team energy freedom’, ditch EU’s energy transition goals

30 April 2025 - Energy Secretary Chris Wright has delivered a keynote speech at the inaugural session of the Three Seas Business Forum in Warsaw