EU Environment Committee Eases 2035 CO2 Rules for Cars

The European Parliament's Environment Committee set an 87.5 percent passenger-car fleet CO2 reduction target for 2035, replacing the existing requirement for a full 100 percent cut and creating new offset routes for manufacturers.

The committee approved a framework that combines an 87.5 percent CO2 reduction for cars with up to 7.5 percent in low-carbon steel credits, and other multipliers for electric vehicles, opening the door to limited continued sales of internal-combustion models after 2035.

The Environment Committee voted 48 in favor, 30 against and with two abstentions for the package. The compromise follows a proposal from the European Commission in December 2025 that had already reduced the original 100 percent target to 90 percent, allowing automakers to offset some residual emissions through eligible measures.

How the committee's changes work

Under the committee text, passenger cars would require an 87.5 percent cut in average CO2 emissions by 2035. Low-carbon steel credits could add a further 7.5 percent toward a manufacturer’s compliance calculation, producing a theoretical combined reduction of 95 percent. The committee also limits the contribution of low-carbon steel produced inside the European area to no more than 3 percent of the relevant emission targets for cars and vans.

MEPs proposed several vehicle-counting multipliers to help manufacturers meet fleet targets. Electric cars shorter than 4.2 metres would count as 1.4 vehicles in fleet calculations. Electric cars built in the EU that meet specified energy consumption thresholds would receive a 1.2 multiplier. Social leasing schemes would add 0.1 to each multiplier, effectively making small EVs count as 1.5 and highly efficient EU-built EVs as 1.3. Electric vans would count as 1.2 vehicles from the new rules' entry into force until the end of 2034, rising to 1.4 from 2035.

The committee also seeks to widen the regulatory definition of zero-emission vehicles to include cars that run exclusively on eligible low-carbon and renewable fuels, provided those fuels meet the detailed requirements set out in the proposal. That change would create a narrowly defined compliance route for combustion-engined vehicles using qualifying fuels rather than giving combustion models an unrestricted pass beyond 2035.

On commercial vehicles MEPs proposed easing near-term targets: manufacturers would face a 35 percent CO2 reduction target for new vans by 2030, instead of 40 percent under the Commission's proposal and 50 percent under existing legislation. For vans the proposed 2035 reduction would fall from 100 percent to 80 percent, with low-carbon steel credits available but constrained by the same 7.5 percent cap.

Supporters of the compromise frame it as a measure to protect European industry and to offer automakers additional compliance mechanisms as they adapt to growing competition from overseas manufacturers. Italian rapporteur Massimiliano Salini of the European People's Party argued that decarbonization should not force automakers into an "EV-shaped" mold.

The committee's package does not abolish the 2035 objective but modifies the path and compliance tools available to manufacturers; the Environment Committee approved the changes by 48 votes to 30, with two abstentions.