EU’s Stéphane Séjourné to Present Concrete Proposals to Spare Automakers from Fines for Missing CO2 Targets
EU’s Commissioner for the Internal Market, Stéphane Séjourné, is set to present concrete proposals next week on how to spare European automakers from fines for missing the 2025 tightened CO2 targets. According to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, Séjourné stated that the commission is currently exploring several options to enable a swift solution without the involvement of the European Parliament and Council.
The involvement of the Parliament, in particular, could slow down the proposal as there is resistance against a leniency. The commission, however, will not reconsider the strict CO2 targets for 2035, including the phase-out of combustion engines, at least not for now. The planned review of the fleet targets, initially scheduled for 2026, will be brought forward by a year. “Then we will have results not in 2027, but next year” the French commissioner said.
The CO2 fleet targets for cars have decreased from around 115 grams per kilometer in 2025 to 93.6 grams. Automakers warn that these targets cannot be met and the consequence would be fines that could total several billion euros in the worst-case scenario. They have been pressing, with support in Germany from the Union, SPD, FDP and parts of the Greens, to at least postpone the fines. They argue that high fines could slow down the necessary investments in clean propulsion technologies.