EU Agreed New Cars must be Emission-Free by 2035
After more than 16 hours of negotiations, the EU's environment ministers reached an agreement on a proposal to fight climate change. Only new cars and vans with zero CO2 emissions will be permitted after 2035.
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the environment ministers of the 27 member states of the European Union agreed to accept a slew of climate change mitigation measures.
After nearly 16 hours of negotiations in Luxembourg over proposed climate rules, an agreement was reached that included a compromise to phase out the sale of new cars powered by fossil fuels by 2035.
"The Council also agreed to introduce a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 100 per cent for new cars and vans by 2035," ministers said in a statement.
Effectively, the deal prohibits the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines in the bloc beginning in 2035.
Now, a final solution must be discussed with the European Parliament, which also favours a 2035 ban on the sale of automobiles powered by internal combustion engines.
As the EU seeks to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, the combustion engine ban and the rest of the proposed legislation must be implemented to reduce emissions.
Ministers reached a consensus on five laws recommended by the European Commission the previous year.
"The climate crisis and its consequences are clear, and so the policy is unavoidable," EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said.
Source: DW