The CO2 regulation allows automakers to pool their emissions, meaning a manufacturer that doesn’t meet its emissions goals can pay a carmaker that overshoots those targets. Such transactions have been particularly lucrative for Tesla — although its collapsing sales caused by Musk’s close association with Trump may make that provision less useful.
“We definitely don’t want the money to go to the Chinese or to Elon Musk,” said MEP Peter Liese of the European People’s Party at a press conference on Wednesday. “That is more important than a few months ago — that we don’t make the richest man in the world who terrorizes the rest of the world even richer.”
This is unlikely to be the last fight over greening the car sector.
The emissions reduction measure is part of a broader effort leading to a ban on the sale of new combustion engine cars by 2035. Multiple brands and conservative lawmakers and national governments want the ban reversed, or so thoroughly weakened as to be meaningless.
The Commission has already given some ground, agreeing to move forward the review of the legislation to the end of this year instead of 2026, but there is pressure to go even further.
Before the ink on the CO2 amendment was dry, lobbyists were already at work undermining the 2035 legislation and calling for more.
“This measure must not overshadow the broader structural shortcomings of the CO2 regulation, which affect the entire automotive sector,” automotive supplier lobby CLEPA said in a statement following the Parliament’s vote. “The current framework remains misaligned with market realities.”
