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The EU ought to scrap its complete ban on promoting new vehicles with combustion engines after 2035 to assist protect its car business, the chief of the largest political group within the European parliament has stated.
Manfred Weber, who heads the European Individuals’s occasion of Fee president Ursula von der Leyen, advised the Monetary Instances that folks ought to be capable to purchase petrol and diesel vehicles so long as the carbon emitted is offset.
“I use a classical combustion engine, with classical fuel, but then pay for storing CO₂ in the soil — probably that is a business model for the future,” he stated.
Different choices may embody hybrids and vary extenders, he stated.
His intervention comes because the EU debates the way forward for its 2035 ban on new combustion engines given the turmoil within the automotive business. A number of main European carmakers and automotive half suppliers together with Volkswagen and Bosch introduced 1000’s of job cuts final 12 months as they struggled with rising prices and competitors from low cost Chinese language imports.
US imports of vehicles have in the meantime been subjected to 25 per cent tariffs by the Trump administration.
The UK watered down its personal electrical car targets earlier this month, reducing punitive fines to assist the automotive business. Whereas the 2030 phaseout date for brand new petrol and diesel vehicles stays in place, the federal government will now enable producers to promote full hybrid and plug-in hybrid autos till 2035.
Acea, the European automotive business physique, has estimated that €67bn value of automotive exports, primarily based on 2024 numbers, can be impacted by the US levies.
After heavy lobbying from the business, Brussels in March granted carmakers a small reprieve from stricter emissions targets by averaging them out over a three-year interval to 2027, however the 2035 ban nonetheless stands.
Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s EPP local weather commissioner, has repeatedly underscored the bloc’s dedication to the 2035 legislation. It is because of be reviewed in 2026 however Brussels has promised to “accelerate” the work below stress from carmakers and member states resembling Germany and Italy, that are pushing for exceptions for various fuels produced from renewable sources.
The current German authorities coalition settlement additionally centered on carbon removals and credit as a technique to meet wider EU local weather targets.
However it dedicated to the 2035 goal which permits solely combustion engines powered by renewably generated “e-fuels”.
A senior EU official stated that together with carbon offsets as a cause for exemption or permitting hybrids and range-extenders had been “exotic” choices that will be “highly unlikely”.
Gradual gross sales of electrical autos within the EU have already picked up within the first two months of this 12 months, growing 28.4 per cent in comparison with the identical interval in 2024, in accordance with figures from Acea.
In Germany, Weber’s dwelling nation, new electrical car registrations had been up 41 per cent year-on-year in January and February, Acea stated.
Weber stated that the EPP needed “to show the world that you can have economic growth together with ecological responsibility. And on the other hand, we have to do this in a way that is fully technologically neutral. That is what we stand for.
“There are a lot of new technologies now,” he stated, arguing that business needs to be allowed to innovate so long as EU carbon discount targets are met.
“I don’t know and I don’t care as a politician. It’s up to the business to be creative.”
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