The European Union has definitively approved this Tuesday the law that prohibits the sale of newly registered cars and vans that emit CO2. The rule, which affects the entire territory of the EU, has been approved after weeks of tensions due to the surprise blockade of Germany.
The energy ministers of the EU countries have approved the measure with 23 votes in favour, Romania, Bulgaria and Italy abstaining and Poland voting against. Germany voted in favor, after the European Commission and Berlin reached an agreement this weekend.
The legislation also provides, as an intermediate step, that in 2030 cars will reduce their emissions by 55% compared to 2021 levels and vans by 50% on the same date.
"It does not change the text agreed with the European Parliament", but "provides details on the next steps in the application of the regulation" to incorporate synthetic fuels or e-fuels into community regulations, as explained by the Energy Commissioner, Kadri simson.
In a formal process in the final approval of the regulations at the beginning of March, Berlin paralyzed the law because the third party of the German government coalition, the liberals of the FDP, demanded more clarity on electric fuels.
The maneuver was not liked in Brussels or by a large part of the Member States, but it was necessary to force a negotiation to satisfy Germany, the leader in automobile manufacturing in the EU, and save a key piece of the EU's climate policy to decarbonise the community economy.
The Commission added a political declaration in which it undertakes to present a "solid and evasion-proof" regulation for the approval of this type of vehicle, in collaboration with the Technical Committee of Motorized Vehicles.
The Community Executive will present in the autumn of 2023 a piece of legislation that "specifies how vehicles with e-fuels would contribute to the objectives of reducing CO2 emissions, in relation to the regulation of CO2 emission standards for passenger cars and light-duty vehicles" .
Likewise, a legislative proposal on e-fuels will also be presented in 2026, as the text provided from the beginning.
The engine would not change from that of a car with a current combustion engine, but the electronics would, so that the vehicle refuses to start if the tank has been filled with traditional fuel, similar to cars that will not start if the driver has drunk too much alcohol.
Biofuels have been left out of the agreement. The Commission considers that this type of fuel will always have a carbon footprint derived from the agricultural practices from which they are obtained, an interpretation that Italy has not liked since it considers it "very restrictive". The country has asked that biofuels be included in the legal path to find a place for synthetic fuels.
European legislation has made clear its orientation towards the electric motor and hydrogen cells, as they are the only ones that it currently considers scalable technologies.
The Council of the EU and Parliament have agreed on the future obligation to install charging points for electric vehicles at least every 60 kilometers -and every 120 kilometers for trucks- as well as hydrogen stations every 200 kilometers from 2026.
"The direction is clear: by 2035, new cars and trucks must have zero emissions. It makes a great contribution to climate neutrality by 2050 and is a key part of the Green Deal," said the vice president of the European Commission responsible for climate policy, Frans Timmermans.
