It would be the de facto end for conventional gasoline and diesel cars: The EU Commission wants all new cars to stop emitting emissions from 2035 onwards.
Brussels - No more new gasoline and diesel cars, a tax on aviation and marine fuels and higher costs for heating with coal, natural gas or oil: The EU Commission wants to ensure that the European climate protection goals are achieved with a comprehensive plan.
In essence, it intends to make the consumption of fossil fuels more expensive in order to accelerate the switch to climate-friendly technologies. The car industry is also to be imposed even more stringent carbon dioxide limits - by 2035 at the latest, only emission-free cars are to be registered in the EU.
Apart from that, consumers must expect increased costs for the use of conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles and heating. The Brussels authority wants to create a separate emissions trading system for road traffic and the building sector, which makes CO2 emissions from these areas chargeable. Intra-European flights and cruises could become more expensive due to new energy taxes. In order not to leave people with low incomes alone with rising energy and transport costs, there should be a climate social fund.
"The fossil fuel economy is reaching its limits," said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen when presenting the plans.
It is now a matter of combining the reduction of emissions with measures for nature conservation and placing employment and social balance at the center of the transformation.
"Fit for 55"
The totality of the proposed measures should enable the EU states to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 55 percent below the 1990 level by 2030. That is why the package is also called "Fit for 55" by the Commission. The long-term goal of the EU is that by 2050 no more climate-damaging gases will be released into the atmosphere. This is how man-made climate change and its consequences are to be stopped. Scientists see global warming as a reason for rising sea levels and weather-related natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and forest fires.
For the auto industry, the EU Commission specifically proposes that by 2030 the greenhouse gas emissions of new cars should decrease by 55 percent compared to 2021.
If manufacturers do not adhere to the specifications, penalties should be paid.
From 2035 onwards, only emission-free new vehicles are to be registered in the EU.
However, there should be a review clause.
According to this, every two years it should be analyzed how far the manufacturers are;
A major test report is to follow in 2028.
In theory, the date 2035 could still be postponed.
Big change in traffic planned
For the change in the transport sector, charging points for electric cars are to be set up every 60 kilometers on major highways in the EU. The Commission estimates the investment costs for the charging infrastructure at a total of 15 billion euros. Hydrogen filling stations are to be built every 150 kilometers. The EU Commission also said that even if you are currently assuming a poor energy mix, an electric car has lower emissions than a classic combustion engine.
In order not to put European industry at a disadvantage on the world market, European producers of products such as steel, aluminum, fertilizer and electricity are planned to be protected from foreign competition with less stringent climate protection requirements via a so-called border adjustment mechanism.
It provides for a CO2 tax to be introduced on imports of these goods.
The Member States and the European Parliament must now discuss the implementation of the proposals.
From the point of view of the EU Commission, speed is of the essence in order to give industry and consumers as much time as possible for the changes and reductions.
“This is the all-important decade in the fight against the climate and biodiversity crisis,” commented Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans.
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze announced that Germany will start work quickly. The Federal Government will now examine the proposals of the EU Commission thoroughly, but also quickly and constructively, said the SPD politician. It is about nothing less than a "new industrial revolution, led by the European Union". dpa
