EU ban on CO2 cars is 'self-destructive', Italy's Meloni says

ROME – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the European Union's 2035 target to end the sale of CO2 emitting cars shows a "self-destructive" position on industrial and environmental issues.

"The ban on endothermic [combustion] engine cars from 2035 is one of the most obvious examples of a self-destructive approach," Meloni told an event in Rome on Sept. 18. "Accompanying the industrial sector in the challenge of ecological transition cannot mean dismantling entire sectors," she said.

In March 2023, EU countries approved a landmark law that will require all new cars to have zero CO2 emissions from 2035, effectively banning diesel and gasoline vehicles, and 55 percent lower CO2 emissions from 2030, compared to 2021 levels.

The EU measure was meant to speed up the electrification of the auto industry, but several automakers have recently started to scale down their electric vehicle roll-out plans due to poor demand.

Italy has said an intermediate assessment by the European Commission on the progress to meet the new rules, currently due in 2026, should instead take place at the beginning of next year because of the slowdown in EV sales.