The news could hamper Miliband’s green agenda and leave the UK as a European outlier.
The decision could see the EU deviate from plans to ban the sales of petrol and diesel cars (Image: Getty)
A planned U-turn by the European Union (EU) on a flagship ban on sales of petrol vehicles, could leave Ed Miliband in the cold. Brussels is understood to be planning a significant climbdown on vehicles emission rules, after pressure from member states, according to a senior figure.
Manfred Weber, head of the European Parliament’s biggest grouping of MEPs, confirmed that plans to ban the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035 would now be put on hold indefinitely. The pressure of EU member states, particularly Germany and Italy, risks leaving Britain isolated in its net zero agenda. The Energy Secretary is now facing calls from the car industry to revisit Britain’s plans to introduce similar legislation.
The original plans could have seen an effective ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars (Image: Getty)
Currently, Britain plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and hybrids from 2035.
Under the proposals, manufacturers will also be required to hit electric car sales targets under the so-called zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
These and similar plans being pushed forward by Miliband have been criticised by political opponents throughout Labour’s time in office, with detractors accusing Miliband of being “ideological” in his pursuit of net zero, leaving ordinary households with increased energy bills.
Claire Coutinho, the Conservative shadow energy secretary, told the Telegraph: “Rather than banning, taxing and forcing people into electric cars, the Government should get out of the way and back consumer choice.
“That’s why we have to repeal the net zero legislation, cut people’s electricity bills by 20pc with our Cheap Power Plan, and allow people to use that cheap electricity to buy the products they want to, when they want to.
“Forcing people to buy expensive technologies before they’re ready simply for the sake of meeting a net zero target just makes people poorer.”
The move is likely to increase pressure on Miliband to revisit Britain’s plan (Image: Getty)
Under the original EU proposals, the bloc would have mandated a 100% reduction in passenger vehicle carbon emissions by 2035, amounting in reality to an effective ban on the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles.
However, Mr Weber told German newspaper Bild that this would be reduced to a 90% and that a total ban had been taken off of the table, following talks with the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Weber was quoted as saying: “For new registrations from 2035 onwards, a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions will now be mandatory for car manufacturers’ fleet targets, instead of 100%.”
He added: “There will also be no 100% target from 2040 onwards. This means that the technology ban on combustion engines is off the table. All engines currently manufactured in Germany can therefore continue to be produced and sold.”
