The European Commission is due to propose amendments to its landmark ban next week -- having come under intense pressure to weaken it from some big car-producing nations, like Germany and Italy.
In the other camp are France, the Nordic countries and Spain who have long called for keeping to the trajectory to shift to electric vehicles in order not to harm firms that have made investments in the transition.
Madrid put its reservations on paper in a letter to commission chief Ursula von der Leyen dated Thursday and seen by AFP Friday.
"Any additional relaxation would risk triggering a significant delay in modernization investments, linked to a temporary slowdown in electric vehicle demand, directly impacting the future competitiveness of the European automobile and auxiliary industry," wrote socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
"We therefore reject that combustion vehicles or other technologies without proven viability could continue to be marketed beyond 2035."
European automakers have been clamouring for flexibility in the face of fierce competition from China and a slower-than-expected shift to electric vehicles (EVs).
Spain's missive came as Manfred Weber, the head of the EU parliament's largest group, the EPP, said the 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales would be discarded.
Weber told German tabloid Bild on Thursday after a meeting with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen -- who hails from the same political family -- that carmakers would be required to meet a 90-percent reduction in CO2 emissions from their fleet.
Commission officials have stressed that no final decision has been made.
But sources within the EU body suggested to AFP that the proposal in the works will likely include the 90-percent target and allow for plug-in hybrids and range-extender vehicles to be sold after 2035.
This has environmentalists worried, with a recent report indicating that plug-ins pollute almost as much as petrol cars. But it would meet some of the demands of Berlin, Rome, and others.
"There is a clear demand for more flexibility on the CO2 targets," commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho told a press conference Friday, saying Brussels was "aiming for balance".
Road transport accounts for about 20 percent of total planet-warming emissions in Europe, and 61 percent of those come from cars' exhaust pipes, according to the EU.
EU 2035 combustion-engine ban review: what's at stake
Paris, France (AFP) Dec 12, 2025 - The European Commission is expected to announce on Tuesday measures relaxing a 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales.
While Europe's embattled auto industry and its backers have lobbied hard for Brussels to relax the ban, they are divided on exactly what measures to take.
- Why the 2035 target date? -
In 2023, despite the reluctance of Germany, the commission announced a ban on sales of new vehicles powered by internal combustion engines from 2035. Hybrids that use a combination of combustion engines and battery power are also included.
The ban is a key measure to help attain the EU's target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
The date is important as vehicles spend an average of 15 years on the road in the EU and thus would be expected to have largely stopped spewing planet-warming emissions by around 2050.
The 2023 announcement included a provision for a review in 2026 but, under pressure from carmakers and governments, the commission pushed forward announcing proposed adjustments to the end of 2025.
The proposals will go to the European Parliament for review.
- What adjustments are possible? -
For those against the ban, it's no longer just a question of shifting the 2035 date, but of relaxing certain provisions.
Carmakers would like to see continued sales authorised for hybrids with rechargeable batteries or those equipped with range extenders (small combustion engines which recharge the battery instead of powering the wheels).
Germany supports this option as do eastern European nations where German carmakers have set up factories.
The ACEA association of European carmakers doesn't criticise the goal of electrification, but it said "the 2035 CO2 targets for cars and vans are no longer realistic".
Another possible means to add some flexibility would be boosting the use of alternative fuels such as those derived from agricultural crops and waste products.
Italy supports this option.
But environmental groups are opposed to any massive turn to crop-based biofuels as it would likely boost the use of pesticides and aggravate soil depletion, and they are also sceptical about what emissions reductions can actually be achieved.
Moreover, as a majority of biofuels are imported, the EU wouldn't gain in autonomy, another objective of the shift to electric vehicles.
- Carmakers out of alignment? -
European carmakers -- BMW, Mercedes, Renault, Stellantis and VW -- are not always on the same page even if they all want the rules to be relaxed.
This is principally due to their varying progress in shifting to electric models.
The industry that has grown up around the electric car sector -- such as battery manufacturers, recharge stations and electricity companies -- wants to keep the 2035 target with no adjustments.
"Rolling back these objectives would undermine the EU's energy sovereignty, industrial leadership, and climate credibility," said the UFE, a trade group for French electricity industry firms.
France, along with Spain and the Nordic countries, has long called for keeping to the trajectory to shift to electric vehicles in order to not harm firms that have made investments in the transition.
Paris has indicated it is open to some flexibility on the condition of local content being favoured, which pleases suppliers which have also come under intense pressure from cheaper Chinese competition.
- Is there a risk in backsliding? -
Yes, according to experts.
"What is considered a short-term advantage may not be one in the long term," said Jean-Philippe Hermine at the IDDRI think tank that focuses on the transition in the transport sector.
Bernard Jullien, an economist at the University of Bordeaux, said keeping several different technologies imposes extra costs for companies.
It can also create uncertainty for them if consumers adopt a wait-and-see attitude, he added.
"Between China and its electric vehicles and the oil that Saudi Arabia and the United States wants to sell us, is the right choice to stick with our old technology?" asked Diane Strauss, head of the French office of T&E, an advocacy group for clean transport and energy.
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