Ed Miliband is facing pressure to ditch the UK’s 2035 ban on petrol and diesel car sales today after the EU dramatically abandoned its rules.
The Net Zero Secretary has been left isolated after a Brussels kingmaker declared that the bloc’s deadline for ending sales is being dropped.
Instead, there will be more flexible rules to achieve a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from cars, according to Manfred Weber, president of the powerful EPP group in the European Parliament.
Mr Weber said the blanket ban on petrol and diesel engines was ‘off the table’ and states would be left to make their own decisions.
So far ministers have been adamant that the UK’s phase out timetable – 2030 for sales of fully petrol and diesel cars and 2035 for hybrids – will remain.
Mr Miliband has championed the restrictions, although the Department for Transport leads on the policy.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We remain committed to phasing out all new non-zero emission car and van sales by 2035.’
Mr Weber told German newspaper Bild: ‘For new registrations from 2035 onwards, a 90 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions will now be mandatory for car manufacturers’ fleet targets, instead of 100 per cent.
‘There will also be no 100 per cent target from 2040 onwards.
‘This means that the technology ban on combustion engines is off the table.
‘All engines currently manufactured in Germany can therefore continue to be produced and sold.’
Mr Weber said this sent an important signal ‘to the entire automotive industry and secures tens of thousands of industrial jobs’, reflecting concerns over the future of one of Europe’s most important industries.
At least seven EU governments, including Germany and Italy, and several automakers have been lobbying for softer regulation.
Currently, EU rules set a goal to cut carbon emissions from new cars to zero by 2035, effectively banning sales of new combustion-engine vehicles.
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovakia said in a joint statement earlier this week that while they recognise the need to reduce emissions, laws should be rooted in technological neutrality.
This would effectively give nations the freedom to choose whether to impose bans.
Volkswagen, Stellantis, Renault, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have all argued in favour of dropping the ban, instead letting customers decide what they want rather than having firm targets.
Shadow Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho told the Telegraph: ‘Rather than banning, taxing, and forcing people into electric cars, the Government should get out of the way and back consumer choice.
‘That’s why we have to repeal the net zero legislation, cut people’s electricity bills by 20 per cent with our Cheap Power Plan, and allow people to use that cheap electricity to buy the products they want to, when they want to.’
China has flooded the EU’s car market with a swarm of cheap electric vehicles, while European carmakers have been slow to embrace them.
They have now begun pushing back on regulations set by the bloc.
Sigrid de Vries, director general at the automotive lobby group European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), said the previous 2035 target is ‘no longer realistic’ given the lack of sufficient levels of infrastructure and grid upgrades.
‘Today’s CO2 regulation focuses only on new vehicle supply, without doing enough to spark real demand, whether through infrastructure, total cost of ownership, or incentives, and without linking it with competitiveness and resilience,’ said de Vries.
