Business & Economics
EU Scales Back 2035 Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate to 90% Cut
On 16 Dec 2025 the European Commission replaced its planned full ban on new combustion cars with a requirement that 90 % of fleetwide CO₂ emissions be eliminated by 2035, reopening the door for hybrids and limited petrol/diesel sales.
Focusing Facts
- Automakers may offset the remaining 10 % of emissions with certified EU low-carbon steel, synthetic e-fuels, or biofuels under the draft law.
- The package includes a €1.8 billion “Battery Booster” and ‘super-credits’ that count each small EU-built EV as 1.3 vehicles toward compliance.
- Ford’s $19.5 billion write-down and cancellation of the F-150 Lightning, announced one day earlier, underscored faltering EV demand that shaped the EU reversal.
Context
Industrial policy has pivoted like this before: the U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules of 1975 were relaxed for SUVs in the 1990s, buying Detroit time but eventually ceding hybrid leadership to Japan. Today’s EU climb-down reflects two structural forces: (1) the return of great-power industrial rivalry—China’s state-backed EV juggernaut vs. a profit-hungry but cash-strapped West—and (2) the politics of preserving legacy jobs in Germany and Italy as growth slows. Whether the 90 % target is remembered like the 1997 Kyoto commitment (symbolic but tooth-less) or the 2018 IMO sulfur cap (quietly transformative) will hinge on technology costs, not pledges. On a century scale, the decision may mark the moment Europe ceded normative leadership on climate tech to Beijing; alternatively, it could be a pragmatic pause before batteries, e-fuels, and grid upgrades mature. Either way it signals that climate policy now moves at the speed of geopolitics, not ideals.
Perspectives
Automotive industry trade press
Automotive industry trade press — Portrays the softened 2035 rules as a pragmatic course-correction that protects European and U.S. carmakers, keeps hybrids and performance models alive, and helps consumers by adding choice and lowering costs. Heavily sourced to automakers and aimed at car enthusiasts, the coverage foregrounds competitiveness and product excitement while giving scant attention to climate-advocate criticisms or long-term emissions impacts.
Policy and financial news outlets focused on climate commitments
Policy and financial news outlets focused on climate commitments — Cast the EU move as a major retreat from a headline climate policy, warning it risks undermining net-zero goals and investment certainty in electrification. Targeting readers concerned with regulation, markets and ESG, these reports spotlight environmental backlash and political drama, potentially overstating the finality of a draft that still needs approval.
Right-leaning/populist and international outlets skeptical of EU green rules
Right-leaning/populist and international outlets skeptical of EU green rules — Celebrate the EU ‘abandoning’ its bid to force all-electric cars, presenting the rollback as a victory over costly, unrealistic climate mandates that threaten jobs and consumer freedom. Using emotive, Eurosceptic rhetoric and selective facts, the stories minimise the remaining 90 % target and climate rationale, amplifying narratives that green policy is elitist over-reach.