EU to scrap planned ban on combustion engines, EPP's Weber says

HEIDELBERG, Germany, Dec 12 - The European Commission will move to scrap plans for an effective ban on new combustion engine cars from 2035, a senior EU lawmaker said on Friday, in what would be a major victory for Germany which has been pressing ‍to ​protect its automakers.

Manfred Weber, president of the largest party in the European Parliament, the EPP, ‍suggested in an earlier statement there would be an alternative proposal for a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions for automakers' fleet targets from 2035 onwards.

The planned ​ban was ​a key part of the EU's strategy to drive the continent's decarbonisation and boost the development of electric vehicles. But Brussels has faced intense lobbying, most notably from Germany and its automakers, who say they are facing tough competition from China.

"Next Tuesday, the European Commission will ‍be putting forward a clear proposal to abolish the ban on combustion engines," Weber said at a press conference in Heidelberg, Germany.

CARMAKERS ​ARE UNDER PRESSURE

Weber - a German Member of the European Parliament ⁠who also leads the EPP group there - said it should be left to markets and consumers how climate targets are achieved. That echoed arguments by major European automakers including Volkswagen, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz.

The European Commission, which is due to make an announcement on the planned scheme on December 16, said it would not comment ​on any proposals ahead of time.

Weber did not provide further details, but said late on Thursday that under the new plans a 90% reduction on CO2 emissions ‌would be mandatory for automakers' fleet targets for new registrations ​from 2035 onwards.

"There will also be no 100% target from 2040 onwards," he had told mass tabloid Bild.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was also at Friday's press conference, said electric vehicles remained the main path to carbon neutrality, but there were other technologies, such as synthetic fuels.

"And that is precisely what we mean by technological openness. This now gives the industry real planning security," Merz said.

Germany has been lobbying hard to get the planned ban overturned, concerned that its automakers will come under even bigger pressure as Asian rivals increasingly muscle into Europe while U.S. import tariffs ‍have dealt a major blow.

Last month, Merz, in a letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, argued that automakers ​needed more flexibility after demand for electric vehicles had failed to meet industry expectations.

"Large parts of the automotive industry in Europe, including in Germany, and I am ​referring in particular to the supplier industry, are in an extremely difficult economic situation, which ‌is why we must correct the framework conditions in Europe as quickly as possible so that this industry has a future in Europe." REUTERS