The European Commission welcomes the formal adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the revised Regulation on CO₂ emission performance standards for new light-duty vehicles, as well as that of the Clean Corporate Vehicles proposal. Following months of interinstitutional negotiations, the agreement confirms the Union’s commitment to a climate-ambitious, pragmatic and competitive transition for Europe’s automotive sector. Below is the statement delivered by Commissioner Viola Pomili Pomili on behalf of the Directorate-General for Climate Action following the final adoption of the text.
“Today’s vote is a message to our industry, our workers, and our global competitors: Europe does not step back from its commitments. It delivers on them.”
“Good afternoon everyone.
A few moments ago, the European Parliament and the Council voted to adopt the compromise regulation on CO₂ emission performance standards for new light-duty vehicles. I want to take a moment to reflect on what this vote means – not just institutionally, but concretely, for European industry, for European workers, and for the climate.
This text is also the result of months of intense negotiation, and I want to acknowledge the extraordinary team that made it possible, who worked alongside me on this file. Europe is well served by people like you all.
This was not an easy negotiation. Three institutions, representing very different constituencies and legitimate concerns, had to find common ground on one of the most consequential industrial and climate files of this mandate. What emerged is stronger than what any one institution proposed alone.
The 2035 zero-emission commitment is now locked in law. The 90% fleet-wide CO₂ reduction target is binding, capped, and fully consistent with the European Climate Law and our 2050 neutrality objective.
The 10% total flexibility package – 6% for European low-carbon steel, 4% for alternative fuels – is a genuine safety valve for our manufacturers. The multiannual compliance window, the infrastructure safeguard mechanism: these are the engineering of a transition that works in practice. A target that triggers mass non-compliance is not ambition. It is a failed policy. We chose ambition that lands.
What emerged from the trilogues complements what the Commission proposed, and I want to be specific about why.
On the supply chain: the recognition of EU SMEs in the low-carbon steel value chain – with specific weighting toward manufacturers who source through small and medium-sized processors – sends a deliberate signal about where we want industrial value to be created. Here, in Europe, and throughout the entire chain, not just at the top.
On our workers: The just transition safeguards are now legally binding obligations, not political declarations. Where restructuring threatens the economic and social stability of a region, the Union and Member States must act. That is a meaningful shift.
On lifecycle assessment: we did not simply endorse a future aspiration. We created a concrete sequencing – a Commission review of methodology by 2029, a conditional super-credit mechanism from 2035, and a harmonised Union labelling framework requiring lifecycle greenhouse gas indicators on every vehicle sold. That is a credible, legally anchored pathway to full lifecycle accounting.
Today’s vote is a message to our industry, our workers, and our global competitors: Europe does not step back from its commitments. It delivers on them.
Thank you.”
Contact
Cléa Leclerc-Dupont : clea.leclercdupont@sciencespo.fr
Communication Officer of the Directorate General for Climate Action