Flexibility but not too much. European plans for the future of the car

At the end of the first arm wrestling on the future of the automotive, the budget is substantially in a tie: the European Commission, in its action plan, actually grants a Good margin of flexibility to industry and manufacturers in particular on fines for emissions targets at 2025; However, reiterating once again, that the Call of thermal engines for 2035 remains untouchable.

“The goal of 2035 remains and we stick to that program”, wanted to reiterate the European commissioner to transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, in the press conference to present the plan, adding that we will proceed towards the target with “a technologically neutral approach”, as repeatedly requested by Italy. “The synthetic fuels (E-Fuels) will play a role and will be included in the revision of the legislation that we have anticipated from 2026 to the third or fourth quarter of 2025, and as part of this revision we will evaluate other technologies”, then added, announcing another partial victory for the automotive industry with the advance of the revision of the regulation on zero emissions for 2035, not mentioned by the President of the Commission, Ursula Von Der. Leyen, in advances on the floor a few days ago.

For the rest, the plan confirms the forecasts of the eve: above all, the targeted amendment that will allow manufacturers to avoid fines on CO2 emissions for 2025, allowing to spread the calculation of the electric share over three years, and therefore to recover the missing objectives in 2025 in 2026 and 2027.

“We forced the commission to remove the trap of fines and to anticipate the revision of the CO2 regulation, necessary but not sufficient conditions to avoid the collapse of the car industry. Now it is now necessary to immediately do the common forehead to overcome the madness of the Green Deal, imposing technological neutrality, adequate resources for companies and workers in the supply chain and to guarantee strategic autonomy on electrical batteries. Decisive “, comments the minister for businesses and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso.

The plan also mentions possible incentives “to stimulate the demand for zero -emission vehicles”. “We have the loans to transform ambition into reality: up to 50 billion euros in the field of investteu for clean technologies and sustainable mobility; 1.8 billion euros from the Fund for innovation for the production of batteries; 1 billion euros from Horizon Europe for connected and autonomous vehicles – theme on which a” European alliance “will also be launched dedicated to the development of such vehicles – and batteries.

Also, there will be 570 million euros As part of the structure for alternative fuel infrastructures for charging points, with a focus on trucks; funding for the development of skills, including 90 million euros for the formation of the workforce; And, of course, additional funding for SMEs, “said Tzitzikostas, summarizing the figures of the European commitment for the sector. Furthermore, the plan for automotive is accompanied by a communication for the decarbonisation of corporate fleets, which currently represent 60% of all new cars enrollments in the European Union.

“Member States could already consider the possibility of granting tax breaks to zero -emission vehicles, establishing rules for taxes and car sharing services based on their emissions, or could already encourage rental companies, especially those used by tourists for short trips, to use zero emissions cars,” said Tzitzikostas in this regard, adding that the commission started to work to work soon legislation on the topic. In the first quarter of 2025 “also a” recommendation on transport deficiency “, which” will encourage member states to adopt social leasing regimes for zero -emission vehicles, new and used, intended for users of the most vulnerable transport, as part of the implementation of their national plans provided by the social fund for the climate “, as stated in the text of the plan.

The reception of the manufacturers are positive: according to the general manager of Acea (Association of European car manufacturers), Sigrid De Vries, the plan “identifies many key fields in which an immediate work is needed. The flexibility proposed to satisfy CO2 objectives in the next few years is a welcome first step towards a more pragmatic approach to the decarbonization dictated by market and geopolitical realities. Cars and vans “, as long as” the measures necessary for the demand and charging infrastructures now actually enter into action “.

The political reactions are colder: for the European People’s Party the Plan “contains many positive elements and, above all, it provides the necessary short -term relief. However, the Commission has lost the opportunity to clarify the question of the ban on internal combustion engines”, on which the PPE instead asks for a step back. “The European Commission is putting our automotive industry, our jobs and a livable planet at risk, granting extensions to late car manufacturers. While China runs forward in electric vehicles, Europe risks being behind. We need innovation, not stagnation”, it is instead the comment of the group of socialists and democrats to the European Parliament.