Brussels has become a real battleground, where the future of the car industry hangs in the balance, and the Old Continent is torn by serious internal divisions. On the eve of a key meeting of European Union economy ministers, seven member states have categorically slammed the table and refused to deviate from the course towards full electrification, standing up to attempts to revive the internal combustion engine.
Denmark, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden have joined forces in a common front, sending an official letter that sounds like a furious declaration. According to this coalition, any watering down of environmental goals and delaying plans for battery vehicles would be a disastrous, strategic mistake. The stakes are huge – the 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, which was supposed to end conventional propulsion in favor of zero emissions.
Under serious pressure from powerful industry lobbies and industrial nations, the European Commission has already prepared a loophole in the form of a compromise package. The plan in question envisages a clever carbon credit scheme that would actually allow the internal combustion engine to survive beyond the fateful 2035. Instead of complete decarbonization, there is talk of a reduction of about 90%, with the remainder to be compensated by the use of synthetic fuels, the introduction of "green" steel or bonuses for the production of affordable urban electric vehicles under 4.2 meters long. Defenders of the hard line, however, are skeptical that such a complex system could even work in practice without serious abuses.
The electric coalition is willing to swallow the current compromise, but sets a red line for any further concessions. The automotive sector is already investing hundreds of billions in new platforms and battery factories, and any change in the rules in the middle of the game would generate dangerous uncertainty in the market. Moreover, in their letter, the ministers point out that the transition beyond oil is no longer just a green fiction, but a matter of national security and energy independence against the backdrop of unpredictable geopolitical upheavals.
At the opposite pole are the traditional automotive giants such as Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. This camp insists on a far more liberal approach, softer regulations for plug-in hybrids and a serious revision of the intermediate targets. At the same time, the situation in the European Parliament is no less heated, with the EPP launching an alternative idea for a hard 90 percent reduction in emissions without credit systems, which would directly leave the door open for traditional engines.
The negotiations in the corridors of Brussels are yet to get tangled and the final outcome remains unclear. However, one thing is certain - there will be no complete capitulation to the demands of the oil lobby, and manufacturers who hope for a complete repeal of the electric vehicle mandate are simply living in an illusion.