Banning internal combustion engines is a mistake. We will discuss its cancellation in the coming days. This was stated by Manfred Weber, leader of the center-right European People's Party (EPP), which won the most seats in the European Parliament elections.
The 2035 ban on the sale of cars with internal combustion engines is a central pillar of the Green Deal, the EU's plan to eliminate greenhouse gas pollution by 2050.
Peter Liese, the EPP's leading MP on climate, told POLITICO, that the election results have confirmed his party's vision for a less restrictive Green Deal.
“We're going to have to make some adjustments. The ban on internal combustion engines - this must be dropped," he is emphatic.
Another critical area awaiting correction is agriculture. The EPP's intentions are to protect farmers from aggressive climate regulation.
However, this will not be so easy. Revoking the car ban would directly contradict the position of European Commission President and leading candidate for a second term in office, Ursula von der Leyen. It was she who played a huge role in introducing the ban in her fight to remain at the helm of the EC. However, any move to repeal the law would start an all-out war with the left-wing parties that supported the move.
"Disorders aside, one thing is now certain - there will be no more solutions without the EPP," says Lise.
A new shade of green
Aleksandar Vondra, a Czech MEP who has worked on climate legislation for the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, said climate policy will become more realistic in the next five years.
"If I compare Green Deal policy to driving a car, I expect the new European Parliament to also use a steering wheel or a brake pedal, not just the gas pedal," he said.
Pascal Canfin, a centrist French MEP who chaired parliament's environment committee in the last term, insisted the election had not resulted in a "majority to repeal the Green Deal". However, his opinion is not shared by other colleagues.
“The Green Deal is not dead. But we'll have to see what happens in the coming weeks. If there are majorities in which right-wing parties participate, retreat is possible," admitted Michael Bloss, MEP from the German Greens.
Lise said the EPP was determined to reduce the EU's contribution to global warming to zero by 2050, as required by the bloc's climate targets.
"If progress is equated with prohibition, there will be retreat. There is no backtracking on climate targets, but there will be on bans and red tape," he said.
A matter of negotiation
Von der Leyen will now run for a second term as head of the EU executive, which will require the support of the European Parliament. To get there, von der Leyen will try to build a coalition of centre-left parties and the EPP. But if she loses even a few votes from those parties, she may not get the majority she needs.
Either way, the Green Deal promises to be a major stumbling block. Greens frontrunner Bas Eykhout said his party would not support repealing existing laws, including the ban on internal combustion engines.
"It is quite clear to us that the adopted laws must remain. I think the business agrees too. Von der Leyen can count on our support, but only on this condition," he stated.
The Green Deal is a complex package of laws regulating greenhouse gas emissions from almost every part of the economy, but it also affects many other industrial polluters. Most of the package has already passed through parliament and Weber said the EPP had no intention of scrapping the deal in its entirety.
"There will be no revision of the Green Deal as a whole," the EPP leader promises.
This means that parties that broadly support the Green Deal still have an easy majority in parliament. The EU's independent scientific advisers stressed the need not only to maintain existing policies, but to do much more, especially on emissions from agriculture. Loud demonstrations by farmers across Europe earlier this year halted efforts to control the agricultural industry's environmental impact.