Between the Green Deal's targets to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and plans to prioritize boosting industry competitiveness, the Europe Union is fumbling in the dark to find its way forward. The 27 member states are in a balancing act between trying to lead the way in the fight against global warming and at the same time catch up with the United States and China in the sectors of the future. In any case, this is the official line, which conceals real disparities between those who wish to ease up on environmental regulations and those who, on the contrary, wish to preserve those objectives.
From this point of view, the fate of the European Union's automotive industry, currently in the throes of a crisis, will be symbolic. In April 2023, after stormy debates between member states and the European Parliament, the regulation banning the sale of new combustion engine vehicles in 2035 was adopted. Since then, its detractors – in Italy, Germany and the Christian democratic ranks of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament – have criticized it relentlessly, as demonstrated by the plan the EPP is due to present on Wednesday, December 11, to ease manufacturers' obligations.
The European elections on June 9, which saw the right and the far right make gains, have given them new arguments. All the more so as the entire sector is suffering, with redundancy plans multiplying and President-elect Donald Trump promising to overtax European imports, starting with German cars, at a time when China is dumping its overcapacity on Europe. Against this backdrop, calls for support for the European automotive industry are now going beyond the circle of early protesters against what they see as overly green legislation, and are being seen across almost all of the EU.
The ban on the sale of combustion engine cars by 2035 is economic "suicide" and an "incredible gift to China," repeated Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday, December 5. On the same day, Italy and the Czech Republic, with the support of Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, called in a joint note for a long-term strategy for the automotive industry, with a multi-year investment plan and a specific state aid scheme.
They also want to "pave the way" for technologies other than electric vehicles for the post-2035 period, such as those with "sustainable" combustion engines (powered by alternative fuels), and are calling for the CO₂ emissions regulation review clause scheduled for 2026 to be brought forward to 2025. Finally, they are campaigning for manufacturers to escape the heavy fines that threaten them – foremost among them Renault and Volkswagen – if they fail to meet emission reduction targets for 2025.
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