Automotive News Europe — 2025-12-07
Automotive Industry
Six European Union leaders including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni asked the European Commission to propose softening the bloc’s vehicle emission rules to halt a de-facto ban on combustion engines planned by the middle of the next decade.
Prime ministers including Meloni and Poland’s Donald Tusk demanded that an upcoming revision of EU rules for new cars allow plug-in hybrids, range extenders and fuel-cell technology even after 2035, according to a letter to commission President Ursula von der Leyen seen by Bloomberg News.
“We are at a turning point both for the EU automotive and car components industry and for the European climate action,” the leaders said. “We can and we must pursue our climatic goal in an effective way, while not killing our competitiveness in the meanwhile since there is nothing green in an industrial desert.”
The letter, also signed by Slovakia’s Robert Fico and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, seeks to influence the commission’s effort to offer more flexibility to Europe’s car industry. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov also joined the appeal.
Italy and Germany have been fighting to soften the bloc’s looming ban on sales of new combustion-engine vehicles, seeking to shield their automotive industries from Chinese competition, weaker-than-expected electric vehicle demand and U.S. trade tariffs.
Meanwhile, Europe’s high energy and labor costs are forcing automakers to cut jobs and shift investments elsewhere. The French government has instead prioritized a “European preference” for electric vehicles in a bid to avoid job losses.
Automakers such as Stellantis, Volkswagen and Renault are seeking clarity on the fate of the ban as they plan future investments, with billions of euros at stake.
“Fully applying the principle of technological neutrality is key: it is evident that there is no silver bullet on the path to decarbonisation, and imposing a single technological solution curbs research, innovation and virtuous competition,” the leaders said in the letter dated Dec. 4.
The European Commission is set to present a package of measures this month to support automakers. The package is due to be published on Dec. 10, but could be delayed.
Since they adopted a regulation that all new vehicles from 2035 should have zero emissions in March 2023, EU countries are now having second thoughts. Back then, the outlook for battery-electric vehicles was positive, but automakers’ efforts have later collided with the reality of lower-than-expected demand and fierce competition from China.