Europe's historic climate decision definitively confirms the goal of 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

Tonight the European Parliament and the Council have definitively confirmed the target of 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2035. This is a historic decision as it sets for the first time a clear decarbonisation pathway - with targets in 2025, 2030 and 2035 and aligned with our goal of climate neutrality by 2050. This sector, which accounts for 16% of European emissions at the moment, will be carbon neutral by 2050.

To be carbon neutral in 2050 we need to ensure that any new car put on the road from 2035 onwards does not emit CO2 as the average life of a car is 15 years. Making it possible to sell non-zero emission cars after 2035 would have been seen as a de facto renunciation of climate neutrality in transport.

The Parliament managed to raise the overall ambition of the text by including

• a legislative proposal from the Commission in 2023 to accelerate the transition of large companies' fleets to zero-emission vehicles. This was a strong demand from the Parliament to accelerate the market introduction of zéro-emission vehicles and the second hand market of zero-emission vehicles.
• an analysis from the European Commission by December 2023 at the latest, looking at the needs to accompany the suppliers that will be most strongly affected by the transition to zero-emission mobility. The final negotiations open a process towards a legislative proposal to create a Just Transition Fund for the automotive sector by 2025. This fund should ensure social support and training for the equipment manufacturers that will be most strongly affected by the transition to zero-emission mobility. This was a strong demand from the European Parliament, our Renew Europe Group and our Renaissance Delegation, and I am pleased about it.

As in all negotiations to find a compromise, the European Parliament had to "move" towards the Council and accept the inclusion of a recital on efuels. Although the recital is very vague and does not lead to anything concrete, it did stabilise Germany's support for the agreement.

With this historic decision, which I welcome, we are bringing about a revolution in the automotive industry. We have 13 years to change the most important industry in terms of employment in Europe, which is an exceptional challenge in view of the climate issue.

We are already working on putting in place all the building blocks necessary to achieve this ambition. This climate agenda is also an industrial strategy of sovereignty. From recharging infrastructures (with binding targets for each Member State in the AFIR text currently being negotiated), to easier access to critical materials (a Critical Raw Material Act will be proposed by the Commission shortly), via the implementation of standards promoting the circularity of batteries and the construction of battery gigafactories to build as many as possible in Europe, we are working on all fronts and with all the players of the value chain to accelerate the transition of this sector.