By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The centre-right European People’s Party is mounting a campaign to weaken the EU’s main policies for cutting CO2 emissions from cars, a draft position paper seen by Reuters showed.
The demands from the EU’s biggest political group – which are due to be published on Wednesday – would add to already-mounting pressure on Brussels from automakers and national governments to urgently help Europe’s ailing car manufacturing sector.
The EPP document said the EU’s 2035 ban on sales of new CO2-emitting cars “should be reversed”, to ensure that sales of combustion engine cars that run on biofuels and other alternative fuels can continue beyond this date.
The law should also be changed to support plug-in hybrid cars, which contain an electric battery and a combustion engine, the draft said. It asked Brussels to undertake an early review of the 2035 policy next year to make these changes.
Europe’s car sector is in turmoil, with thousands of jobs on the line at automakers and their suppliers, all suffering from weakening demand, Chinese competition and lower-than-expected electric vehicle sales.
The EPP holds significant political sway in the leadership of the EU. It is the biggest group in both the European Parliament and the new European Commission – where the majority of the 27 Commission members, including President Ursula von der Leyen, hail from the group.
The draft EPP document also said automakers should also be shielded from the impact of stricter car CO2 limits coming into effect next year. Some carmakers have warned they cannot meet these limits and are bracing for potentially billions of euros in fines.
The EPP suggested delaying the 2025 limits to 2027, or softening the way carmakers’ compliance is accounted for.
Brussels has so far resisted calls to weaken the measures. EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra in September said the climate rules provided a predictable investment environment and many companies had informed the EU they were on track to meet the targets.
Since then, the sector’s woes have intensified, with Volkswagen announcing plans to shut factories in Germany and automakers now bracing for a potential wave of tariffs under incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
The EPP has had some recent successes with other calls to weaken green policies. Last month the EU delayed its landmark anti-deforestation law by a year, after pushback from the EPP, industries and governments including Brazil and the U.S..
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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