Europe 1 with AFP 15:17 pm, March 27, 2023

The European Union on Monday ended three weeks of psychodrama related to the German blockade and validated the end of combustion engines in new cars from 2035. The text will force new cars to no longer emit any CO2, effectively banning gasoline, diesel, and hybrid vehicles, in favor of all-electric.

The ambassadors of the 27 EU countries on Monday approved the end of combustion engines in new cars from 2035, as Germany lifted its blockade in exchange for an exemption for future synthetic fuels. The text will force new cars to no longer emit any CO2, effectively banning gasoline, diesel, and hybrid vehicles, in favor of all-electric. It will be "put on the agenda" of a meeting of energy ministers on Tuesday for formal adoption, the Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU has announced. This regulation is one of the pillars of the European climate plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Synthetic fuel

Berlin stunned its partners at the beginning of March by blocking it at the last moment while it had already been approved in mid-February by MEPs meeting in plenary, after a green light from member states, including Germany. To justify its about-face, which is extremely rare at this stage of the procedure, Germany had asked the Commission to present a proposal paving the way for vehicles running on synthetic fuels. This technology, controversial and still under development, would consist of producing fuel from CO2 from industrial activities. Defended by high-end German and Italian manufacturers, it would extend the use of combustion engines after 2035.

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The European Commission and Germany had announced on Saturday that they had reached an agreement to unblock the text, which remains unchanged, Brussels agreeing to commit more firmly on synthetic fuels in a separate proposal that should be validated by autumn 2024. Vehicles with combustion engines can be registered after 2035 if they exclusively use CO2-neutral fuels, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said.

In the opinion of many experts, however, synthetic fuel technology is unlikely to gain traction on the market and would only affect a minority of luxury vehicles at best. It is contested by environmental NGOs who consider it expensive, energy-consuming and polluting.