French President Emmanuel Macron estimated on Thursday, October 24, that 2035 should remain the horizon for the ban on heat engines, but advocated greater “flexibility” to preserve jobs.
“The goal for 2035 is good because it aligns actors towards the same objective. It encourages changes in practices and gives credibility to the investments made,” he said during a press conference after a European Council in Brussels.
“If tomorrow we abandon the 2035 goal, forget about the European electric battery factories (…), we will undo everything we have done in terms of batteries,” he stated.
This measure, the most emblematic of the European Green Deal, is increasingly questioned by car manufacturers, who are loudly demanding a relaxation of rules.
“Open flexibilities”
We must “be smart”, “keep our jobs”, “it must not be an ax that falls completely blind”, Emmanuel Macron also advocated.
“What we want is to decarbonize our automotive industry as much as possible by 2035,” he continued. But we must “open flexibilities”, offer “other solutions that allow us to massively reduce CO2 emissions,” he stressed.
At this point, the European Commission assures that it will stay the course, but the pressure is increasing: the current law provides for re-evaluating the measure and its impacts in 2026. The European executive has promised to examine the issue at the end of the year.
Manufacturers hope that the re-evaluation of the text will at least allow flexibilities to be introduced or even simply to lift this ban.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz threw up a roadblock in early October by pledging to “do everything possible” to lift the ban on the sale of thermal cars in 2035, which France and Spain oppose.
Source: BFM TV
