Stuttgart: The 2035 car CO2 target moved a step closer to a weaker form on 22 October 2026, when two European Parliament committees backed a compromise that relaxes the Commission’s automotive package. The transport committee and the industry committee voted separately on the same day, after the centrist groups settled the text two days earlier.

The European People’s Party, the Socialists and Democrats, and Renew Europe agreed the compromise on 20 October. Electrive reports that the industry committee approved it by 49 votes to 27 with 5 abstentions, and the transport committee by 27 to 18 with one abstention. The transport committee had postponed its vote from 5 October to give the three groups time to agree.

The Commission proposed at the end of 2025 to cut new-car emissions by 90 percent against 2021 by 2035, down from the earlier 100 percent. Parliament’s text on the 2035 car CO2 target goes further. Reports differ on the exact framing. Electrive describes a 95 percent cut that could fall to 87.5 percent once credits for EU-made green steel count, while Agence Europe describes 87.5 percent with the remainder up to 95 percent offset through low-carbon steel credits.

Under the 2035 car CO2 target as amended, combustion and hybrid cars could still be sold after 2035. Cars running on eligible renewable fuels would count toward the zero-emission definition, and super-credits would reward affordable small electric cars. The compromise also lowers the targets for vans, from 40 percent to 35 percent in 2030 and from 90 percent to 80 percent in 2035, according to Agence Europe.

Parliament also moved on trucks. On 7 October it adopted the provisional agreement on CO2-based tolls for heavy-duty vehicles, which gives low-emission trucks and buses lower tolls until June 2031. Together with the cars text, that vote shows how lawmakers are loosening transport climate rules in the name of industrial competitiveness. The 2035 car CO2 target remains the most visible test of that mood.

Reactions split along familiar lines. Pascal Canfin of Renew argued that green steel demand offsets the slower pace and cuts overall emissions. Tilly Metz of the Greens warned that the text slows the transition and weakens Europe against China. Tomislav Sokol of the European People’s Party called the timeline a demanding deadline. Germany and France had already agreed on 16 October to keep a 90 percent cut with no offset for the last 10 percent.

Council approval will be the last hurdle. At least 15 member states representing 65 percent of the EU population must back the final text, and the German and French position on 16 October suggests a blocking minority against a harder line is unlikely. Observers will compare Parliament’s wording of the 2035 car CO2 target with the Commission’s original once the full amendments appear.

The process has further stages. The environment committee is expected to vote in early November, and a plenary vote is likely in December by simple majority. The Council then decides by qualified majority, and six states besides Germany had asked for weaker targets. Carmakers, steelmakers and climate campaigners will now watch whether the 2035 car CO2 target survives those votes in its present shape.