According to the wishes of the EU Commission, company fleets in the European Union should become almost climate-neutral from 2035.
Dec 17, 2025, 02:22Dec 17, 2025, 02:22
This emerges from information from the EU Commission about its car package, which was published on Tuesday evening. The quotas set for the states are based, among other things, on economic output per inhabitant. Countries like Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have a goal that is just as high as Germany.
In the future, company vehicles in the EU will largely be powered by electricity. (symbol image)Image: keystone
By 2035, new vehicles registered in the fleets of large companies should be 95 percent emission-free. For most vehicles this means that they would be electrically powered. As early as 2030, 54 percent of new vehicles in these fleets should be emission-free cars and other vehicles. According to the plans, companies with more than 250 employees and a turnover of more than 50 million euros are affected.
For countries with slightly weaker economic output per capita, such as France or Italy, the rate for 2035 is 80 percent.
The project is part of the combustion engine package
The project is part of the EU Commission’s proposal to allow cars with combustion engines to be registered again after 2035. Negotiators from the EU states and the European Parliament actually agreed around three years ago that new cars would no longer be allowed to emit climate-damaging CO2 from 2035. This 100 percent reduction target is now being abandoned.
To ensure that the EU climate targets are not thrown overboard, the additional emissions must be compensated for. On the one hand, this should happen through more environmentally friendly steel production and more climate-friendly fuels. How this will work in detail is not yet clear. On the other hand, it is hoped that more environmentally friendly company fleets will provide an incentive to invest in more electromobility.
Proposed changes to the CO2 tariff
The EU Commission wants to present proposals for changes to the so-called carbon border levy (CBAM) on Wednesday (9:30 a.m.). CBAM is a type of CO2 tariff for goods that are produced in a more climate-damaging way outside the EU than within it.
This is intended to prevent CO2 emissions from being relocated abroad. If, for example, steel is produced in China in a way that is more harmful to the climate than in the EU, taxes should be charged when importing for the additional CO2 produced during production. The requirements are due to come into full force next year.
The European Parliament and the EU states must then deal with the proposals. They evaluate the reform and can make changes. How long this will take is still unclear. (sda/dpa)