The European Parliament has reached a historic vote to phase out polluting cars and vans in the European Union by 2035.
The regulation, which is a key achievement spearheaded by the S&D Group, will gradually slash CO2 emissions from cars and vans until their complete decarbonisation by 2035, in line with the EU’s climate goals. Beyond the climate, the shift from polluting to zero-emissions cars will greatly decrease air pollution and its associated respiratory diseases, cancers, and premature deaths.
For the S&D Group, the phase out of fossil fuel cars will deliver more climate protection and improved well-being for all. It is also clear to us that the decarbonisation of the EU car industry will make it a global leader in the race to zero-emission mobility, and will create many new, quality jobs.
However, the transition needs to be socially fair in order to succeed. This is why we have also included in the regulation recommendations to ensure that member states will support the workers who are likely to be affected by this transition.
S&D MEP and shadow rapporteur, Sara Cerdas, said:
“The European Parliament, under our leadership, has taken a decisive step to turn the page of the polluting cars era in the EU. Thanks to the new regulation, manufacturers will have to gradually reduce emissions from cars and vans until the 100% decarbonisation target is reached by 2035. From then on, only zero-emission cars will be for sale on our continent.
“We know that the achievement of the EU’s climate goals will not fall from the sky. Hence, socialists and democrats are striving to put all economic sectors on track to meet them. And beyond climate, important gains are also expected in terms of reduced air pollution and therefore, better health and well-being for everyone.
“We have also battled to include a just transition by better monitoring and financing further measures to protect impacted workers in the car and van industry, including reskilling.”
S&D MEP and coordinator of the committee on the environment, public health and food safety, Tiemo Wölken, said:
“Acting on the climate crisis is badly needed as it increasingly harms our economies and societies. With this landmark decision, we can also dramatically reduce our dependency on oil imports, which will save billions of euros per year for EU consumers.
“For the transition to succeed, we need all citizens and companies on board. Hence, our ambition as socialists and democrats is to deeply decarbonise our economy while ensuring no one is left behind, especially the workers potentially impacted by the move to fully electric mobility.
“The pipedream solution that the European People’s Party proposed, continuing combustion with synthetic fuels, would have been much more expensive and would have wasted hydrogen that we need urgently in other sectors. Fortunately, reason has prevailed and we won the vote.”
