Strasbourg: The 2035 car CO2 target moved a step closer to a softer form on 22 October 2026, when the European Parliament’s Industry and Transport committees voted to relax the zero-emission rule for new cars and vans. The Industry committee backed the compromise by 49 votes to 27 with 5 abstentions, and the Transport committee approved it by 27 votes to 18 with one abstention.

The text comes from negotiators of the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe groups, who agreed a joint position a week earlier. Under it, manufacturers must cut fleet CO2 emissions by 95 percent against 2021 levels by 2035, instead of the 100 percent the current law demands. They can earn a further 7.5 percentage points by using European green steel, so the worst case lands at an 87.5 percent cut.

That design leaves room for combustion and hybrid registrations after 2035. The European Commission went less far in its Auto Package at the end of 2025, when it proposed a 90 percent cut and insisted that carmakers compensate the remaining 10 percent through green steel and climate-friendly fuels. The centre-group compromise drops the demand for full compensation, and that difference now defines the 2035 car CO2 target debate.

Political lines are clear. The ECR, Patriots for Europe, Europe of Sovereign Nations, The Left and the Greens/EFA voted against, each for opposite reasons, so the centre groups carry the file alone. Greens and The Left say the rule gives up climate ambition, while the right-wing groups wanted a weaker or open-ended 2035 car CO2 target.

Capitals matter just as much as MEPs. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed in early October on a 90 percent cut without compensation, and electrive reports that France shifted its stance in return for Buy European requirements. Six other member states had pushed for weaker limits, so the Council has little appetite for the Commission’s stricter version of the 2035 car CO2 target.

The timetable is tight. The Environment committee, which holds the lead on the file, is due to vote in early November 2026, and MEPs expect a plenary vote in December. Parliament needs a simple majority, after which the Council must reach a qualified majority of at least 15 member states representing 65 percent of the EU population. Negotiators can still change the details before then.

Carmakers and suppliers watch the steel provision closely, because a credit for European green steel ties climate policy to industrial policy. The Parliament’s legislative train page tracks each step of the file. Dealers, fleet buyers and drivers will feel the effects only years later. Investors in charging networks and battery plants will read the final 2035 car CO2 target as a signal about how fast electric demand will grow.