By Dutch Member of European Parliament Sander Smit (EPP, BBB)
From 2035, new cars in the European Union will no longer be allowed to emit CO2. This means that the combustion engine will effectively be banned. In 2023, led by the VVD with the then coalition parties D66, CU and CDA, this ban was introduced. My political party, the Dutch BBB, has always opposed this ban. Car manufacturers are gradually being forced to bring more electric vehicles onto the market. If a manufacturer fails to meet interim EU standards, he or she will face hefty fines. In 2024, the demand for electric and hybrid cars dropped dramatically.
According to the EU Court of Auditors, an important reason for this sudden drop in demand appears to be the phasing out of generous subsidy schemes using tax money. An electric car is ultimately more expensive than a model with an internal combustion engine. The car industry contributes no less than 7 percent to European GDP and provides 13 million jobs, including in supplier companies in the Netherlands. The recently announced factory closures in Germany and Belgium should be a wake-up call for everyone – politicians, entrepreneurs and employees. Technological government interference, falling demand and the threat of billions in fines are a danger to the car industry and thus to the European economy as a whole. With the support of its own centre-right EPP group in the European Parliament, the BBB wants this ban to be reversed as quickly as possible.
Under pressure from our group, the Strategic Dialogue on the future of the European car industry is taking place this month. The BBB does not want to turn back the clock, but demands a technology-neutral approach: openness to all technical innovations, such as hybrid vehicles, e-fuels and the latest generations of biofuels. It is not Brussels, but the inventiveness of entrepreneurs that should determine the best and cheapest way to achieve sustainability goals. We must also ensure that driving remains affordable, not only for citizens who can afford more expensive electric cars. The BBB is not opposed to further mandatory emission reductions, but it is opposed to unattainable goals that are being pushed through ruthlessly, blind to economic and geopolitical realities. European car manufacturers have to compete with Chinese competitors financed by state aid. Companies in the EU depend on foreign countries for the supply of raw materials for car batteries, while sustainable combustion engines are their speciality.
Meanwhile, under President Trump, the US is fully committed to fossil fuels. It is incomprehensible that EU Climate Commissioner Hoekstra stuck to the ban on combustion engines during his hearing in the environmental committee. By stubbornly clinging to the ultimate ban, the European car industry is being pushed to the brink and the European economy is being driven into the arms of geopolitical rivals. The ban on the combustion engine is one of the excesses of the overblown Green Deal that BBB wants to correct. The Green Deal may appear to be green, but it clearly turns out not to be a deal at all. It is time for European political realism.
It is time to rehabilitate the combustion engine, a true European success story.
Originally published in Dutch here.
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