Germany, Italy push for exemptions
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has emerged as a leading voice in support of carbuildrs, urging Brussels to allow sales of plug-in hybrids, range-extfinisher vehicles and highly efficient combustion engines beyond 2035.
Italy wants new cars running on biofuels to remain legal after the deadline.
In the opposing camp, France wants to stick as closely as possible to the all-electric trajectory to safeguard massive investments already built by its carbuildrs.
“If we abandon the 2035 tarreceive, forreceive about European battery plants,” President Emmanuel Macron warned after an EU summit in October.
France is calling for EU support for battery production and proposing mandatory electrification of corporate fleets applying European-built vehicles to avoid favouring Chinese brands. Germany opposes such fleet rules.
BMW chief Oliver Zipse argued in Brussels this week that creating corporate fleets go fully electric would amount to bringing the combustion-engine ban “through the back door”.
Lucien Mathieu, of the Transport & Environment advocacy group, warned meanwhile that exemptions for biofuels “would be a terrible mistake”, citing their poor carbon record and unintfinished impacts such as deforestation.
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