Changing Electric Cars Policy Drives Wedge Between Eager Members States and Brussels 

Spain, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden have publicly defended the current vehicle emissions reduction targets and warned against any attempt to lower the requirements established for the transition to electric vehicles.

For years, the Green Deal was presented as a matter of rare political consensus in the European Union. The decarbonisation of the economy, the electrification of transport, and the gradual phase-out of combustion engines became virtually unquestionable pillars of the EU agenda. Today, that consensus is beginning to crack from within.

The seven governments eager to keep the current emission targets argue that changing the rules now would send the wrong signal to an industry that has spent years investing billions of euros to comply with European regulations. According to their position, relaxing the regulatory framework could slow electrification and create uncertainty precisely when the first results of those investments are beginning to emerge.

While these countries insist on maintaining the original course, European institutions themselves have already started introducing corrections. The European Parliament recently approved, by 458 votes in favour, a flexibility mechanism granting manufacturers two additional years to meet the intermediate emissions reduction targets scheduled for 2025. The Council also endorsed the measure without amendments, allowing it to enter into force without further negotiations.

This is not yet a complete revision of the roadmap towards 2035. On paper, the ban on selling new CO2-emitting vehicles from that date remains in place. However, the decision reflects how the market is not evolving at the pace Brussels had expected—or designed.

Electric vehicle sales in Europe fell by 5.9% in 2024. Although they rebounded by 12% in the first quarter of 2025 and reached a market share of 15.2%, they remain far below the levels required to guarantee a rapid and orderly transition. Manufacturers have been warning for months that the original projections were overly optimistic and that European consumers remain hesitant due to prices, range limitations, and charging infrastructure.

The European Commission itself appears to have accepted part of that diagnosis. Its proposal to revise the CO2 standards would soften the current framework by allowing technologies such as plug-in hybrids, certain combustion engines powered by synthetic fuels, and range-extender vehicles to continue playing a role beyond 2035.

In other words, Brussels is beginning to explore a less rigid transition precisely as several governments try to prevent any deviation from the original plan. In most political systems, such a contradiction would be enough to trigger a major political crisis. Not in the EU. 

Yet, the division is significant because it no longer pits Green Deal sceptics against its supporters. The disagreement has emerged within the very coalition that helped shape much of this agenda. The Greens argue that any relaxation would damage both industry and consumers. Parts of the automotive sector, meanwhile, are calling for a much deeper review and for a technologically neutral strategy that would allow different energy solutions to coexist.