Easing car emission rules 'pragmatic' response to industry challenges: EU VP

STRASBOURG: Relaxing car emission targets is a "pragmatic" answer to the sector's challenges but the EU's green ambitions remain intact, the bloc's industry chief said Tuesday as Brussels walked back a 2035 combustion-engine ban.

"The European Commission has chosen an approach that is both pragmatic and consistent with its climate objectives and ambitions," Stephane Sejourne told AFP in an interview at the EU parliament.

Heeding calls from industry, the European Commission agreed to give ground on one of its flagship climate measures by relaxing the planned ban on new combustion-engine car sales.

Instead of a full switch to electric vehicles, Brussels will let carmakers use "other types of technologies" for a limited part of their sales beyond 2035, Sejourne said.

Adopted under commission chief Ursula von der Leyen's first term, the combustion-engine ban was a key part of the EU's pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

"The goal remains the same," said the commission vice president. "But the flexibilities are pragmatic given consumer uptake and the difficulty for manufacturers to offer 100 percent electric by 2035."

Faced with competition from China and trade tensions with the United States, the EU has delayed or pared back a series of green measures in a pro-business shift over the past year.

Sejourne back in March warned that Europe's car industry was in "mortal danger" as the EU launched a rescue plan for the sector, with rivals speeding ahead in the United States and China.

The jewel in Europe's industrial crown, the auto industry employs almost 14 million people and contributes some seven percent to the European Union's economy -- but faces rising threats.

Sejourne rejected the charge from environmentalists that the concessions granted to automakers undermine Europe's climate goals.

"The electric transition remains the objective, but these flexibilities are pragmatic in the current context," he told AFP in Tuesday's interview.

Germany and Poland had pushed hard for a rollback of the 2035 ban and the right to keep selling combustion engine cars beyond 2035.

France was more cautious, fearing the move could stifle Europe's emerging electric battery sector.

Sejourne stressed that France had not lost out, noting the 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in interest-free loans to European battery makers announced as part of the commission's new measures.