EU countries delay vote on landmark law to end sales of CO2-emitting cars
European Union countries have delayed a planned vote next week on the bloc’s landmark law to end sales of new CO2-emitting cars in 2035 after Germany questioned its support for the rules.
No new date for the vote was given and a spokesperson for Sweden, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said EU countries’ ambassadors would return to the topic “in due time”.
After months of negotiations, the European parliament, the Commission and EU member states last year agreed to the law, which would require all new cars sold in the EU from 2035 to have zero CO2 emissions – effectively making it impossible to sell combustion engine cars from that date.
But EU countries still need to rubber-stamp the decision before it can take effect. EU countries’ ambassadors on Friday cancelled the vote that had been planned for 7 March, the spokesperson for Sweden said.
That has put the law on ice days before it was due to receive final approval. An attempt to block or change an EU policy this late in the lawmaking process is highly unusual.
German transport minister, Volker Wissing, reiterated on Friday that the use of synthetic fuels should remain possible after the 2035 deadline and that the European Commission’s promised proposal on how to make this happen was still missing.
“We want climate-neutral mobility,” and to do so means being open to all conceivable technologies, he told a news conference.
A non-binding section of the EU law says the Commission will make a proposal on how vehicles running on CO2-neutral fuels can be sold after 2035, if this complies with climate goals. But Germany’s transport ministry wants clearer assurances.
A Commission spokesperson on Friday said it “will consider the potential contribution of CO2-neutral fuels to
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