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October 17, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Imports Lift Euro Area Trade Deficit To €16.1 Billion In AugustPoverty And Social Exclusion Top 54 percent In Guyane As EU Gap WidensRegions Seek Binding Role In Cohesion Policy Partnership PlansMontenegro EU Accession Reaches 21 Closed Chapters, 12 To GoRail Operators Resist Deeper Cuts To The EU Transport BudgetAlbania EU Accession Gains Fourth Closed Chapter And A 2027 GoalPostponed EU-GCC Summit Leaves Gulf Partnership Without A DateHouse Price Index Shows Portugal Surging While France SlipsBeating Cancer Plan Report Pushes Tougher Tobacco RulesChina Hybrid Car Quota Gives Brussels A Fragile TruceChips Act 2.0 Shifts EU Semiconductor Policy Toward Chip DemandMinisters Seal EU Pharmaceutical Reform After Two Decades Of DebateCouncil Adopts EU Return Regulation With Hubs And Longer DetentionRiver Basin Management Plans Expose Water PollutionEEA Competitiveness Report Ties Europe’s Growth To NatureEurostat Travel Data Shows Europeans Still Holiday At Home2027 EU Budget Vote Looms As Parliament Adds €1.17 Billion To DraftEU Sanctions Circumvention Crackdown Lists Twelve Russia Supply LinksTunisia Migration Deal Draws Rights Scrutiny And Calls For A RewriteLibya Elections Commission Deal Tests EU Support For UN RoadmapImports Lift Euro Area Trade Deficit To €16.1 Billion In AugustPoverty And Social Exclusion Top 54 percent In Guyane As EU Gap WidensRegions Seek Binding Role In Cohesion Policy Partnership PlansMontenegro EU Accession Reaches 21 Closed Chapters, 12 To GoRail Operators Resist Deeper Cuts To The EU Transport BudgetAlbania EU Accession Gains Fourth Closed Chapter And A 2027 GoalPostponed EU-GCC Summit Leaves Gulf Partnership Without A DateHouse Price Index Shows Portugal Surging While France SlipsBeating Cancer Plan Report Pushes Tougher Tobacco RulesChina Hybrid Car Quota Gives Brussels A Fragile TruceChips Act 2.0 Shifts EU Semiconductor Policy Toward Chip DemandMinisters Seal EU Pharmaceutical Reform After Two Decades Of DebateCouncil Adopts EU Return Regulation With Hubs And Longer DetentionRiver Basin Management Plans Expose Water PollutionEEA Competitiveness Report Ties Europe’s Growth To NatureEurostat Travel Data Shows Europeans Still Holiday At Home2027 EU Budget Vote Looms As Parliament Adds €1.17 Billion To DraftEU Sanctions Circumvention Crackdown Lists Twelve Russia Supply LinksTunisia Migration Deal Draws Rights Scrutiny And Calls For A RewriteLibya Elections Commission Deal Tests EU Support For UN Roadmap

Auto Package Vote Delay Keeps The 2035 Car CO2 Target Unsettled

Aksel Hagen
Senior Reporter Legislative Affairs

Stuttgart: The Auto Package vote in the European Parliament’s Transport Committee has slipped again, leaving the future of the EU’s 2035 car CO2 target undecided. The committee had planned to vote on 5 October 2026, but Der Spiegel reported that the Auto Package vote moved back by roughly two weeks.

The Auto Package vote delay comes from politics rather than procedure. The reporting says parties in the Centre Platform need more time to agree a common position. Jens Gieseke, the German centre-right MEP who leads the file, and a spokesperson for the European People’s Party, the largest group in Parliament, both confirmed the postponement. Lawmakers now expect a plenary vote in November.

The Commission proposed the package at the end of 2025. It would loosen the fixed 2035 target in specific ways. New car fleets would need to cut CO2 by 90% against 2021, which equals about 11 grams per kilometre instead of zero. The proposal no longer sets a date for a full 100% reduction, and the Commission expects 27% to 29% of new registrations to still have combustion engines after 2035.

Plug-in hybrids, range extenders, mild hybrids and pure combustion vehicles could still be sold after 2035, provided manufacturers offset the emissions. The offsets would come from EU-made green steel, worth up to 7% of the 2021 reference target, or from climate-neutral fuels such as biofuels and e-fuels, worth up to 3%. Each Auto Package vote therefore decides how much flexibility carmakers keep.

Small electric cars get a boost. Vehicles shorter than 4.20 metres would count for more in fleet calculations under so-called super credits, and the example reported is the Volkswagen ID. Polo, which would count as 1.3 vehicles. The 2030 target would be measured across 2030 to 2032 instead of every year, so later savings could make up for earlier shortfalls. The 2030 van target would fall from 50% to 40%.

From 2030, member states would also face country-specific electrification requirements for company cars, with the Belgian tax system cited as a model. The package adds a €1.5 billion Battery Booster and promises bureaucracy savings of €706 million a year, and it contains flexibility for heavy-duty vehicle CO2 rules without figures so far.

Member states disagree sharply over the Auto Package vote. Germany and six other countries with relatively low shares of electric cars in new registrations pushed to weaken the targets. Spain, France, Denmark and Belgium favour a faster electrification path, and Spain and France put forward the super credits. The Council needs a qualified majority, meaning at least 15 countries representing 65% of the EU population, while Parliament needs a simple majority.

Carmakers, suppliers and charging operators all plan investments around the 2035 rules, so every week of delay adds uncertainty. If the committee agrees a text in the coming days, the November plenary becomes the next test, and the Council will then have to settle its own position. Until the Auto Package vote takes place and produces a clear mandate, the industry must plan for several possible outcomes.

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