Future of e-mobility: Greens fear right-wing combustion coalition

The Greens in the EU Parliament are warning the conservatives, together with the right-wing extremists, to further weaken the EU Commission's proposed move away from completely ending the sale of combustion engines cars in the EU from 2035.

The head of the conservative EPP group in the EU Parliament, Manfred Weber, must make a “clear announcement” not to “enter into majorities with the right-wing extremists just to slow down the drive change,” said Michael Bloss, the Green Party’s climate and industrial policy expert in the European Parliament.

At the end of 2025, the EU Commission proposed a softening of the ban on combustion engines in 2035, which was decided in 2022: Instead of 100 percent, emissions from new cars should then only fall by 90 percent by 2035 compared to 2021. The remaining 10 percent should be offset by green steel and climate-friendly fuels.

That's not enough for Weber's EVP party friends. The Italian EPP rapporteur in Parliament, Massimiliano Salini, presented a paper with 45 amendments to the Commission proposal in May. According to this, cars with combustion engines should be able to count as emission-free even after 2035 - if they only run on certain renewable fuels.

Small electric cars and electric commercial vehicles should also receive “super credits” to make it easier for manufacturers to achieve their climate goals. Plug-in hybrids should also be valued more favorably. Overall, Salini also wants a 90 percent reduction - but without additional compensatory measures. That would further reduce the emissions target.

The EPP has an ally. The extreme right-wing factions in parliament want to completely shred the combustion engine ban. Bloss fears that they could seek majorities together with the EPP. Weber has not yet ruled out cooperation with right-wing extremists, and the EPP has already accepted majorities on other issues with the help of extreme right-wing MPs. “The industry should concentrate on developing competitive electric cars in order to prevail against competition from China, instead of using shady characters to give the combustion engine a few more years and end up empty-handed,” says Bloss.

According to Spiegel, a vote in the EU Parliament's Transport Committee to phase out combustion engines planned for next Monday was postponed this week. Other committees and the plenary session also still have to vote. Overall, it now seems questionable whether the EPP could reach an agreement with the Social Democrats and Liberals on the issue - or would seek other majorities.

Customers are now buying more electric cars than combustion engines. According to the ACEA car association, electric cars accounted for 27.7 percent of all new registrations in Europe in August 2026, around 10 percentage points more than a year ago. Pure petrol and diesel engines accounted for 18.9 and 6.4 percent of new registrations respectively - so together they only accounted for a good 25 percent. However, hybrids have the largest market share. Including plug-in hybrids, they account for more than 44 percent of the market. At the same time, China has overtaken the Czech Republic and Spain as the most important vehicle importer in Germany.

Meanwhile, the industry is insisting on clarity about the withdrawal of the combustion engine ban. “There has long been an agreement to lift the de facto ban on the sale of new diesel and gasoline engines in the EU from 2035 so that there is more time for the switch to e-mobility,” said the managing director of the Federation of German Industries, Tanja Gönner, to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Friday. But the draft law is still not available in Brussels. The federal government should “work to ensure that this happens quickly. Because companies need stability and reliability.”