The EU is delaying the publication of the package of measures on which the eyes of the car manufacturers are fixed
The European Union has delayed by a week the publication of proposals for the auto sector that could relax a 2035 ban on cars that emit carbon dioxide, the European Commission confirmed on Monday, according to Reuters.
Earlier, a draft Commission agenda seen by the news agency showed the EU bloc would delay the publication of its package on the car industry, along with plans to extend the world's first carbon tariff to include washing machines and other manufactured goods.
Both were due to be published on Wednesday, but are now scheduled for December 16.
A Commission spokesman confirmed the new date for the proposals on the automotive sector, but declined to confirm the timetable for the other policies.
Negotiations continue as EU departments jostle for a place on the agenda to publish proposals by the end of the year.
Car manufacturers demand flexibility, climate goals – in danger
The 2035 car emissions policy is being closely watched by carmakers and governments including Germany and Italy, which want the EU to allow the continued sale of cars with internal combustion engines and plug-in hybrids that run on so-called CO2-neutral fuels such as those produced from crops or waste.
In its current form, the measure would effectively ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines (petrol and diesel).
European carmakers say they need flexibility on vehicle policy from 2035 to deal with slower-than-expected sales of electric cars and stiff competition from China.
But easing the policy could hinder the EU's climate goals because it would mean more CO2-emitting cars on Europe's roads by 2050, when the EU has pledged to reach net zero emissions across its entire economy.
Some EU officials have suggested the car proposals could be delayed even further, until 2026.
Guido Guidesi, the minister for economic development in the auto industry-dependent Lombardy region, says this would simply create more uncertainty for carmakers.
“Further delays and delays are unacceptable because we are running out of time – millions of jobs and entire industries are at risk,” he said in a statement.
In addition to the planned expansion of the carbon border tax to cover more products, Brussels is also preparing proposals to prevent foreign companies from circumventing the measure.
Under a proposal that remains in place from January, the EU's carbon border tax would levy taxes on the CO2 emissions of imported goods, including steel, aluminum and cement.
The Commission's draft agenda states that the EU will delay until January 28 a policy called the “Industrial Accelerator”, which sets requirements to prioritize locally made products.
The proposal is an attempt to boost European industries in the face of cheaper imports from China, but it has divided EU countries.
Governments, including France's, support the idea, but others, including Sweden and the Czech Republic, warn that “buy local” requirements risk discouraging investment, raising prices in public auctions and harming the EU's global competitiveness.
