"The softened "Automotive Package" dilutes an emerging strategy" (Joseph Delatte, Institut Montaigne)

“In order to achieve neutrality by 2050, Europe is the only power to have chosen electric power technology. [...] Unfortunately, the European Commission’s ‘stop-and-go’ policies have weakened a nascent industrial strategy that aimed to establish a common approach. This shows that it is possible to reverse the rules,” said Joseph Delatte, project manager and climate and energy expert with the Institut Montaigne Asia programme, to News Tank on 19/12/2025.

He was responding to the European Commission’s proposal to introduce flexibilities into the “Automotive Package”, one of the remaining levers of the Green Deal. On 16/12/2025, the Commission announced that it would no longer impose a fully electric future on car manufacturers by 2035. Carmakers will now be required to reduce CO₂ emissions from new vehicle sales by 90% compared with 2021 levels, instead of the previously proposed 100%. The Commission’s proposal allows 10% of cars with internal combustion engines after 2035, provided their emissions are offset through the use of low-carbon steel produced in the EU or alternative fuels…