The EU’s plan to ban combustion engine cars by 2035 is entering a more controversial phase as Brussels explores further flexibilities to the bloc’s rules. This could decide not just how fast electrification occurs, but also how it unfolds as the EU tries to balance climate ambition, industrial competitiveness and energy security. EU Perspectives spoke to Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, the shadow rapporteur for the file, about the risks of backsliding.
Speaking to EU Perspectives‚ Thomas Pellerin-Carlin (S&D/FRA)‚ shadow rapporteur for the file, said that in allowing “space for the internal combustion engine in the future”, the Commission had made a U-turn on its position from two years earlier—as parts of the industry strengthened their lobbying and the resurgence of what he termed ‘fossil fuel nostalgia’.
The stakes are not only about the credibility of the EU climate architecture, but also its durability. Europe is fundamentally dependent on oil imports, while electrification relies on home-grown energy, stressed Mr Pellerin-Carlin. As he put it, “we Europeans, we don’t have oil”. The longer the transition waits, the more “fragile, less resilient to the oil shocks” the continent becomes.
Technical adjustment or political retreat?
The Commission has proposed new flexibilities around the 2035 zero-emission target. Do you see this as a technical adjustment or a political retreat from the original ambition?
The Commission has made a major concession to the diesel lobby, which has been waging an intense lobbying campaign built on what I would call fossil fuel nostalgia. We now see politicians posting pictures of internal combustion engines on social media—a new phenomenon—and the Commission has responded by giving space for the internal combustion engine in the future. That is a different choice than what was made by the same Commission president just two years ago.
Energy security: what is at risk?
Is the credibility of the EU’s climate framework at risk if the 2035 phase-out is diluted?
The biggest risk is clean energy security. We Europeans do not have oil. Every time you choose to have a car sector that consumes more oil, you make Europe more fragile and less resilient to oil shocks. History bears this out: 1973, 1979, 1992, 2008, 2014, 2022, and now 2026. We must go electric for cars.
Oil and liquid fuels will remain necessary for sectors that are much harder to transform, like the military. But in Europe, we produce the electricity we consume—we do not produce the oil we consume, and that is a result of geology. My biggest fear is that by making too many concessions to the fossil fuel lobby, we actually endanger European security.
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Regulatory certainty and industry investment
How important is regulatory certainty for the automotive sector at this stage of the transition?
Regulatory predictability is vital. We in Europe have consistently made clear that the future of the car is electric. We adopted a regulation proposed in 2021 and passed in 2023, and its core element has not changed. Since 2021, car manufacturers have heard the political message that from 2035 onwards, the vast majority of cars sold in Europe would be battery electric. They have invested accordingly—and that investment is based on regulatory predictability.
If we do in Europe the same mistakes that Donald Trump is doing in the US, then the consequence for the car sector would be asset devaluation, meaning that they’re going to lose money.
—Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, shadow rapporteur for the 2035 car regulation
If we do in Europe the same mistakes that Donald Trump is doing in the US, then the consequence for the car sector would be asset devaluation, meaning that they’re going to lose money. Stellantis, a European manufacturer, had to devalue €6bn of assets in the US as a result of Trump’s policy of fossil fuel nostalgia.
Transition timing
The proposal introduces a three year averaging mechanism for 2030 targets. Would this delay EV uptake?
It will delay uptake, but only marginally. The idea of averaging already exists under EU law and makes some sense. I am sceptical about the three-year window—I think it should be shorter. But it is not the most critical element.
Political choices driving the 2035 target
Does the EU still stand by its commitment to end the sale of combustion engines by 2035?
It really depends on the choice made here in the European Parliament. There are essentially two possible majorities. One is a pro-democratic coalition—forces that understand Putin to be a threat, and that any drop of oil consumed anywhere in the world funds Russia’s war machine against Ukraine and against Europe.
One possible option is a pro-democratic, pro-Ukraine coalition that will choose to use that regulation to go electric—not only in Europe, but to show the world that the future is indeed electric cars, not oil. That coalition will be able to provide the regulatory predictability that our industry needs.
The second option is what in this Parliament we often call the Venezuela coalition—the coalition with the far right in Germany. Those people do not believe in science. Those people are praising Vladimir Putin. Those people gave a standing ovation to Donald J Trump. If that coalition wins, it would be the road to energy hell for Europe, because we will make the same mistake that Donald Trump is doing in the US—with one big difference: we don’t have the oil. At least Trump has the oil.
Political balance and the role of the EPP
How do you see the EPP’s stance on this? Can it provide a political balance?
The EPP is a political group made of people committed to Christian democracy. They have been fighting for democracy and for the European Union project since essentially 1945. People in the EPP remember that siding with the far right is a danger.
That is a choice the German centre right made in 1932. I think they have learned their lesson. The EPP is also committed to regulatory predictability, and is right to say that EU policies must be predictable. That is why I count on them to side with other democrats. We need as much regulatory predictability as possible for our companies to invest.
Affordability and access to EVs
Is the high cost still the biggest barrier to purchasing an electric vehicle, or are there others? Last year, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke about a small European electric car. What is happening with that—is it realistic?
Ursula von der Leyen made the right choice in calling for further investment in small battery electric cars. That is indeed something we need to push further. This is especially important for working people. The car industry in Europe over the last 20 years has really focused on premium cars—the bigger cars, the biggest SUVs—and those cars are bought by rich people.
They are bought by people who earn more than €3,000–4,000 a month. But what do we do for working people? What do we do for the people who had to work during Covid? Without them, there is no modern society that can survive. We talk about people taking care of the elderly. We talk about electricians. We talk about factory workers—all those people who earn, at least by western European standards, €1,500 per month, €2,000 per month. Those people will never buy a new car, and for them, we need to have small battery electric cars.
Those small battery electric cars need to be accessible through a social leasing scheme. They don’t need to buy the car—they get the car and pay a monthly rent. Rather than finding €30,000 to buy a car, which they will never be able to do, they pay €100, €120 per month to use it.
—Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, shadow rapporteur for the 2035 car regulation
Since the car is electric, it is actually much cheaper to use than a petrol car. Those small battery electric cars need to be accessible through a social leasing scheme. They don’t need to buy the car—they get the car and pay a monthly rent. Rather than finding €30,000 to buy a car, which they will never be able to do, they pay €100, €120 per month to use it.
There is one very important car manufacturer in Europe called Volkswagen. From German, it literally means cars for the people. I think we need to make the European car industry great again—and that means having the European industry start producing the cars that working people actually need, and those are small battery electric cars.
