MEPs on Environment Committee vote 48 to 30 to cut EU 2035 car CO2 target from 100% to 87.5%
A European Parliament committee backed an 87.5% CO2 cut for new cars in 2035, down from 100%, but the text needs a full Parliament vote in December.
The European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted 48 to 30 on Wednesday to cut the 2035 car CO2 reduction target from 100% to 87.5%, with two abstentions.
The text is a proposal, not law. Parliament’s negotiating mandate for talks with EU governments is expected to go to a vote at the December plenary session.
Under the committee’s approach, manufacturers would have to compensate for emissions capped at 7.5% of the 2021 EU fleet-wide reference target. The aim is to reach a 95% target by using credits for low-carbon steel produced in the EU.
Until the end of 2034, those steel credits could contribute no more than 3% towards compliance for either cars or vans.
Rapporteur Massimiliano Salini, an EPP member from Italy, said: “Registering combustion engine cars without compensation obligations would remain possible, protecting technological freedom and restoring prospects for the entire supply chain.”
The committee would also redefine zero-emission vehicles to include cars and vans running exclusively on eligible renewable or low-carbon fuels, alongside those with zero tailpipe CO2.
For vans, the committee backs a 35% CO2 reduction by 2030, against 40% in the European Commission’s proposal and 50% under current rules.
The 2035 van target would fall from 100% to 80%, with steel credits subject to a 7.5% cap. The Commission presented its proposal in December 2025.
The draft also adds multipliers for EU-built electric vehicles. A small EV of no more than 4.2 metres would count as 1.4 vehicles when a maker’s average emissions are calculated, and a highly efficient EU-made EV as 1.2.
Registration through a social leasing scheme adds 0.1 to each, taking them to 1.5 and 1.3. EU-made electric vans would count as 1.2 until the end of 2034 and 1.4 from 2035.
The ACEA, the European car industry body, gave the vote a cautious welcome and acknowledged the “pragmatic” approach, Autocar reported.
It added that for passenger cars the changes remain “too limited in scope and duration to adequately address the industry’s concerns.” Toyota called the vote a “welcome step” while asking for more flexibility.
Transport & Environment, a green lobby group, projects that carmakers could stay within the new 2035 rules even with a 50% sales mix of range-extender EVs.
The UK is negotiating for cars made here to qualify for the EU-built multipliers under these CO2 rules, Autocar said.
Parliament’s December vote decides whether the committee’s text becomes its position in negotiations with EU governments.
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