The European Parliament bans selling new petrol vehicles from 2035

In July 2022, as part of the Green Pact, the European Commission made a proposal to ban the sale of new thermal vehicles. After a long battle this Wednesday, June 8, 2022, parliamentarians have finally decided to approve the proposal in question. For them, from 2035 new thermal cars no longer need to be sold.

Get ready to say goodbye to petrol cars. At least, the ones that can be bought new from a dealer. Last May, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety voted on the new text on CO2 emission standards for combustion engine vehicles.

This time it is the European Commission that has adopted the motion to ban the entry into service of new vehicles. Therefore, and if everything goes as planned, from 2035 only electric cars may be sold (unless by then manufacturers find another way to power the motor of their machines).

End blow for thermal vehicles from 2035

Meeting in Strasbourg, 339 MEPs adopted the text on regulating CO2 emissions from cars and vans. If 249 votes strongly opposed it, they were not enough to oppose the new law.

Pascal Canfin, Chair of the Environment Committee in Parliament, welcomed this endorsement: “We are setting a clear course for the industry by supporting the end of thermal engines by 2035, a major victory consistent with the goal of CO2 neutrality for 2050 The Greens, for their part, would have liked to see the entry into force of this text brought forward to 2030.

Because at the moment 12% of CO2 emissions are caused by cars. This was opposed by the EPP (European People’s Party), which would have liked to see a reduction in vehicle emissions of around 90%. The purpose of such a decision? Let manufacturers market hybrid vehicles.

According to Agnès Evren, a member of the Republicans and MEP since 2019, this text will put an end to the sale of vehicles running on biofuels or high-performance hybrid cars, the production of which would be less polluting than electric vehicles. However, there are still two steps to definitively ratify this text: the Council of Environment Ministers of the 27 will also have to decide at the end of June 2022, and then it will be the turn of the Commission, Parliament, and the Council to reach a common agreement.