Vincent Ezenagu
The European Union (EU) is “sticking to its controversial plans” for curbs on combustion engines from 2035, despite heavy pressure from the car industry to water down the incoming rules, reports the Financial Times.
The newspaper says it has seen “answers prepared for the bloc’s climate chief Wopke Hoekstra for when he faces parliamentary hearings next month”, which say that the EU “cannot and should not roll back” its plan to outlaw the sale of new cars powered by fossil fuels.
The law, announced in 2021, “has come under fire from Europe’s carmakers as they struggle with flagging electric vehicle sales and intense competition from Chinese manufacturers”, the newspaper explains. However, the briefing says that the new rules create “predictability for investors and manufacturers” and are essential for the bloc to reach its goals on reducing CO2 emissions, as well as to “strengthen the competitiveness of the EU automotive industry”.
Meanwhile, BMW’s chief executive has called for a “correction” to the ban, reports the Times, claiming that it “would afford European manufacturers less reliance on China for batteries”. With the mood among carmakers and consumers “trending towards one of pessimism”, Oliver Zipse says that “a strictly technology-agnostic path within the policy framework is essential”, the newspaper reports.
Zipse speaking at the Paris motor show “has long pushed for regulators to permit various technologies – including alternative fuels like e-fuels or biofuels and hydrogen fuel cell cars”, notes Reuters.
The Daily Telegraph covers the comments and reports that the motor show “reveals the problems with Europe’s EV market”. Finally, The Daily Telegraph’s climate-sceptic columnist Matthew Lynn says the “backlash” against EVs in the US could “end up costing [Democratic nominee Kamala Harris] the presidency”.