The European Union accelerated towards the goal of zero CO emissions2 of vehicles in cities. The environment ministers of the 27 member countries of the bloc reached an agreement on June 29 with five proposed laws to ban, in 2035, the sales of cars powered by fossil fuels, reports The Guardian.
The project also includes the creation of a €59 billion fund to alleviate the cost that the adoption of this new policy may have for low-income people. This is because there is a proposal to increase the cost of polluting fuels used in transport, a measure that will affect the pockets of many Europeans.
These measures are part of a package to reduce emissions and curb global warming. Its main objective is to ensure that the European Union — the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases — greenhouse effect in the world – achieve the target of reducing net CO emissions by 55%2 in 2030 (relative to 1990 levels).
“The climate crisis and its consequences are clear and therefore this type of policy is inevitable,” the European Union’s head of climate policy, Frans Timmermans, told The Guardian after the meeting. He added that Russia's invasion of Ukraine — a major gas supplier — is encouraging European countries to abandon fossil fuels more quickly.
Under the agreement, ministers from all European Union countries support a package of measures that includes a law that requires new cars sold in the bloc to emit zero CO.2 from 2035. In practice, this means no longer selling cars with internal combustion engines.
“Open mind” about biofuels
By concluding this agreement, the proposal is on its way to becoming law throughout the bloc — the final wording can only be done after negotiating the conditions with the European Union parliament, which has already supported the goal of zero carbon cars for 2035.
An important point is that Germany, the largest car market in the European Union, maintained the target in 2035 and asked other countries to evaluate in 2026 whether hybrid vehicles or those that run on CO2-neutral fuels2 (such as biodiesel and bioethanol) could help meet the target.
Today, hybrid vehicles do not offer sufficient emissions cuts and alternative fuels are still expensive, but Timmermans said the commission will “keep an open mind” on these issues.
