The European Parliament on Tuesday, 14th February, gave its final approval to a ban on new sales of carbon-emitting petrol and diesel cars by 2035, with a view to getting them off the continent’s roads by mid-century.
This approval means that the ban will be made into law at an upcoming ministerial meeting.
Supporters of the bill had argued that it would give European carmakers a clear timeframe in which to switch production to zero-emission electric vehicles, and spur investment to counter competition from China and the United States.
This, in turn, will also support the European Union’s ambitious plan to become a “climate neutral” economy by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
But opponents argued that neither European industry nor many private motorists are ready for such a dramatic cut-off in production of internal combustion engine vehicles — and that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk.
Cars currently account for about 15 percent of all CO2 emissions in the EU, while transportation overall accounts for around a quarter.
In October last year, EU member states, the European Commission, and parliament’s negotiators agreed on a proposal to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars in Europe to zero by 2035.
In practice, in the final legislation, this means a halt to sales of new petrol and diesel cars, light commercial vehicles, and hybrids in the bloc by that date, in favour of all-electric vehicles.
The law passed the Strasbourg assembly by 340 votes to 279, with 21 abstentions.
Source: France24
