BRUSSELS — Lawmakers in the European Parliament today adopted a proposal to set a binding EU target for cutting planet-warming emissions by 90 percent by 2040. The text is largely a copy-paste of the position endorsed by EU governments on Nov. 5. It proposes to reduce domestic emissions by 85 percent compared to 1990 level and to allow the EU to outsource 5 percentage points of its climate effort abroad by purchasing international carbon offsets. A majority of members of the European Parliament agreed to back the controversial goal, with 379 casting a vote in favor, 248 against and 10 abstained. The center-left Socialists & Democrats, the liberal Renew Europe, the Greens and the far-left groups as well as part of the center-right European People’s Party supported the adoption of the 2040 climate target. The European Conservatives and Reformists and the far-right Patriots of Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations groups were against. MEPs also approved amendments asking for any carbon credits used to help meet the target to be properly regulated, deliver real emissions cuts, do not contribute to damaging the environment and protect investments in clean technologies in Europe. The legislation will now go through inter-institutional negotiations between the Parliament and the Council of the EU before it can become law.

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s environment ministers struck a deal watering down a proposed 2040 target for cutting planet-warming emissions and set a new 2035 climate plan. Following marathon negotiations all day Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, ministers unanimously approved the bloc’s long-overdue climate plan, rescuing the EU from the international embarrassment of showing up empty handed this month’s COP30 summit. The plan, which is a requirement under the Paris Agreement, sets a new goal to slash EU emissions between 66.25 percent and 72.5 percent below 1990 levels until 2035. That plan is not legally binding but sets the direction of EU climate policy for the coming five years. The range is similar to an informal statement that the EU presented at a climate summit in New York in September. Ministers also adopted a legally-binding target for cutting emissions in the EU by 85 percent by 2040. The deal mandates that another 5 percent reduction be achieved by outsourcing pollution cuts abroad through the purchase of international carbon credits. On top of that, governments would be allowed to use credits to outsource another 5 percentage points of their national emissions reduction goals. Ministers also backed a wide-ranging review clause that allows the EU to adjust its 2040 target in the future if climate policy proves to have negative impacts on the EU’s economy. The deal also foresees a one-year delay to the implementation of the EU’s new carbon market for heating and car emissions, which is set to start in 2027. Hungary, Slovakia and Poland did not support the 2040 deal, while Bulgaria and Belgium abstained. The rest of the EU27 countries backed it. Lawmakers in the European Parliament now have to agree on their own position on the 2040 climate target and negotiate with the Council of the EU before the target becomes law. 

Brussels wants to kill off the combustion engine. Instead, it’s supercharging Europe’s populists. Right-wing parties are running hard against the EU’s law that bans the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2035. It’s happening in the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, France, Poland and elsewhere. In response, centrist parties with a more established voice in Brussels are turning against the law to avoid losing traction to their far-right rivals. It’s far from the only issue for populist parties — most of which base a large part of their appeal on battling immigration — but the EU’s green car effort is one that speaks to many voters angry about Brussels threatening to take away their beloved combustion engine cars. In Prague, the far-right Motorist for Themselves party denounced “green fanatics” and made a breakthrough in the national election last month with almost 7 percent of the vote.   The vote-winner populist ANO party on Monday struck a coalition agreement with the Motorists and the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy. That means the Czech Republic, which has one of the EU’s largest car industries as a percentage of the economy, will continue being one of the leading opponents of the 2035 measure, as the outgoing centrist government was also skeptical of the law. In Poland, Piotr Müller, a member of the European Parliament with the main opposition group, the nationalist Law and Justice party, said: “No one should be forced to change their car just because that’s what Brussels has decided.” “Stop the climate fanatics!” screams a poster from Poland’s fast-rising far-right Confederation party. Meanwhile, a party policy paper states, “We are dealing with an anti-car frenzy that has taken hold of Eurocrats, and the war against the automotive industry and drivers is raging on many fronts.” In Italy, League leader and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini denounced the 2035 measure as “ideological fundamentalism” and called it economic suicide that will hand over the bloc’s car industry to Chinese rivals. The Italian government is pressing hard for opt-outs from the 2035 biofuels law.  Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party campaigns strongly against 2035, but in the country with the continent’s largest car sector, the issue is also splitting the ruling coalition led by the conservative Christian Democrats in alliance with the center-left Social Democrats.  In France, Jordan Bardella, one of the leaders of the National Rally party, wants to repeal 2035. POLITICAL TARGET The populists have hit on a pain point for the EU. Although the bloc wants to slash greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 90 percent by 2050, that means upending one of the continent’s most powerful — and lucrative — industries and imposing a new technology on a reluctant public.  The combustion engine ban was the most unpopular policy among consumers, even as they expressed broader support for climate action, according to a survey of 15,000 people in Germany, France and Poland that focused on climate policy attitudes in the runup to the 2024 European election.  The far-right is capitalizing on this skepticism, “turning it into political gains or framing climate policies altogether as overly burdensome toward businesses, farmers or ordinary citizens,” said Jannik Jansen, a senior policy fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre, who helped conduct the study.   In France, Jordan Bardella, one of the leaders of the National Rally party, wants to repeal 2035. | Thomas Samson/Getty Images The automotive sector is facing a triple whammy of crises: tariffs from Donald Trump, threats from tech-savvy Chinese rivals and a car market that failed to bounce back after the pandemic.  To hear some parts of the industry tell it — especially those carmakers lagging on switching to electric vehicles — the solution is to back off the EU’s climate agenda and severely weaken the 2035 ban, if not overturn it entirely.  PUSHING BRUSSELS TO THE RIGHT They’re gaining political supporters as this Commission shifts its priorities from leading on climate to making Europe strategically autonomous and regaining its competitive edge.   Germany’s Christian Democrats campaigned in February’s federal election on overturning the 2035 ban — and were rewarded at the ballot box, as was their sister party, the European People’s Party, which won the most seats in last year’s European Parliament.  Rising skepticism from voters at home is giving center-right politicians license to push back against green efforts in Brussels. Europe’s mainstream parties “have become significantly more hesitant or reluctant to support ambitious climate policies,” said Jansen. Once one of the staunchest supporters of the 2035 law, France has backed off its earlier full-throated endorsement of the legislation. Now it wants assurances that the shift to battery-powered cars won’t cost jobs. President Emmanuel Macron is hanging on to power by the thinnest of threads, and the National Rally of Bardella and Marine Le Pen is way out in front in opinion polls. Paris “wishes to pursue the electrification of vehicles … as long as they are accompanied by very clear measures encouraging European preference that support industrial jobs in Europe,” the government said on Oct. 23. NATIONAL IMPACTS In Germany, the ruling coalition squabbled over the issue before the Social Democrats gave way and modified their position. They will now accept non-EV ways of meeting the 2035 law by using range extenders — small combustion engines that give electric cars more range — or plug-in hybrids, so long as green steel or e-fuels are used to offset the emissions.   But that’s not enough for the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, with premier Markus Söder refusing to budge on the issue.  “The EU’s 2035 ban endangers hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Söder said, warning of the looming “collapse” of Germany’s car industry. “Söder’s current stance fits neatly into his broader, opportunistic strategy of adopting far-right populist talking points and instrumentalizing ‘culture-war’ narratives, particularly against the Greens and what he frames as regulatory overreach,” said Jansen.   Other countries are getting in line. Poland’s centrist government is content to follow in Germany’s wake. Germany’s Christian Democrats campaigned in February’s federal election on overturning the 2035 ban. | Andreas Arnold/Getty Images “We’re happy that Germany is speaking with a Polish voice,” said Andrzej Halicki, a member of the European Parliament from Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party. The Commission is responding to the pushback, with President Ursula von der Leyen set to put forward a proposal by the end of the year to reform the 2035 legislation. And the executive is clear about where it lays the blame for a slower-than-anticipated transition to electric vehicles. “The main reason Europe isn’t catching up is because the far-right discredited EVs to the middle class,” an official said. This article has been updated.

BRUSSELS — Voting for a weaker climate target means weakening the EU’s economy, the European Commission’s second-in-command warned ministers ahead of a key summit. Teresa Ribera, the EU executive’s vice president in charge of the green transition, told environment ministers to support an ambitious emissions-cutting goal on Tuesday. “Delaying climate action or lowering our ambition below the required trajectory is an invitation to waste money and miss investment opportunities. It is a sign of weakness and incoherence — with enormous economic and human costs,” she said in a statement. “I call on the environment ministers who will gather tomorrow … to back true European competitiveness: socially responsible and environmentally consistent.” On Tuesday, the 27 environment ministers gather in Brussels to hammer out a deal on the bloc’s new climate target for 2040, but on the eve of their meeting there is no certainty that they can reach an agreement. The Commission wants the bloc to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent below 1990 levels until 2040. To get enough governments onboard, the EU executive suggested outsourcing up to 3 percentage points of this target — allowing the bloc to pay other countries to cut pollution on its behalf by purchasing so-called carbon credits. This change wasn’t enough to convince a sufficient number of governments, however, and ministers will discuss on Tuesday whether to increase the share of carbon credits. Offshoring more emissions cuts would allow EU industry and households to reduce pollution at a slower pace, but the bloc’s scientific advisors have warned this would divert cash away from much-needed investments in domestic climate efforts. Ministers will also discuss introducing clauses asking the Commission to revise the target downward if economic conditions worsen or certain sub-targets cannot be met. Both higher credit use and wide-ranging revision clauses would open the door to a weaker goal, even ministers leave the headline figure of 90 percent untouched on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS — Efforts to curtail far-right influence over a decade-defining climate law failed after the center-right European People’s Party refused to support left-leaning and centrist groups. A narrow majority of MEPs on Wednesday rejected a motion to fast-track the European Parliament’s discussions on the EU’s 2040 climate target, a proposal that would have limited the far-right Patriots for Europe’s control over the legislation. The motion, brought by the center-left Socialists and Democrats, the centrist Renew Europe, and the Greens, failed by 300 votes in favor to 379 votes against, with eight abstentions. The vote came after the Patriots on Tuesday outbid other political groups to field the lead MEP for the file, a shock move giving the group — which opposes the proposed target and the EU’s green agenda more broadly — unprecedented influence over climate legislation. Holding the lead position means the far right will be responsible for drafting the Parliament’s position on the target and defending that stance in negotiations with EU governments. Parliament’s ordinary process also gives the Patriots control over the timing, with many expressing concern that the far right would deliberately delay naming a lead MEP and drafting the parliamentary stance. In contrast, an urgent procedure would have allowed Parliament to adopt the proposal without the lead MEP taking weeks or months to draft a report, and also prevented them from slow-walking the file. The EPP, the political family of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, was the only group with enough seats to sway the vote. Left-leaning and centrist MEPs implored their center-right colleagues to support them. “I urge you to support this request,” said Renew MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy. “And “If you push the [voting] button, do not think of internal Parliament or even internal group politics. But think about the future victims of floods, droughts, forest fires and heat waves.” Green lawmaker Lena Schilling asked the EPP to “make sure our future and the future of your children does not remain in the hand of climate deniers.” But just before the vote was held, the EPP announced it would oppose the motion. “Let’s also keep it a little bit realistic. We’re not voting today on the climate law, we’re voting on which procedure we’re going to use,” EPP MEP Jeroen Lenaers said. “The Commission proposal … has been on the table for one week. We will work on it, we will assess it, and we will try to improve it,” he added. “We don’t want undue delays, we don’t want blockages, we just want to work on this proposal with the normal proceedings of this House.” The EPP’s refusal to back the motion immediately prompted howls of betrayal. Michael Bloss, the Greens’ climate spokesperson, branded the move as “scandalous, irresponsible and unforgivable.” With the Patriots in charge of Parliament’s position, agreeing on the 2040 milestone just got even harder. The Commission last week proposed reducing the EU’s emissions by up to 90 percent below 1990 levels over the next 15 years, but softened the target by allowing governments to outsource part of their climate efforts to poorer countries. But that’s not enough for some countries, such as France and Poland, setting the stage for tricky negotiations among governments.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission will permit countries to outsource a portion of their climate efforts to poorer countries from 2036, according to a draft proposal obtained by POLITICO. The EU executive plans to present the bloc’s 2040 emissions-reduction target on Wednesday after several months of delay. The goal will be set at 90 percent below 1990 levels, the draft amendment to the European Climate Law shows.  But as POLITICO reported in mid-June, the Commission intends to meet up to 3 percentage points of the new target with international carbon credits, despite fierce criticism from its own scientific advisers. This plan aligns with Germany’s position on the 2040 goal.  Such credits will allow the EU to pay for emissions-slashing projects in other, usually poorer countries, and count the resulting greenhouse gas reductions toward its own 2040 target, rather than the climate goals of the country hosting the project. The draft proposal envisages using them only in the second half of the decade. “Starting from 2036, a possible limited contribution towards the 2040 target of high-quality international credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement” — global rules governing carbon credits — “of no more than 3% of 1990 EU net emissions,” the draft states. The Commission aims to propose legislation regulating such credits at an unspecified date, the draft adds. “Their specific role and deployment would need to be based on a thorough impact assessment and subject to the development of Union law setting robust and high integrity criteria and standards, and conditions on origin, timing and use of such credits.” Critics, including the bloc’s scientific advisers, warn that relying even just in part on international credits risks slowing the EU’s climate efforts at home. The EU’s existing 2030 and 2050 targets must be met solely through domestic measures. But the proposal specifically excludes the possibility of integrating credits in the EU’s carbon market, an option that some experts feared could tank the bloc’s CO2 price, which is meant to incentivize companies to reduce their emissions. “These international credits should not play a role for compliance in the EU carbon market,” the draft reads.  Carbon credits are only one of 18 “elements” — effectively, promises to make the target more palatable to skeptical governments — that the Commission plans to integrate into the EU’s post-2030 climate policy framework, according to the draft, which is dated June 27. French President Emmanuel Macron joined Poland and Hungary in demanding delays. | Pool Photo by Benoit Tessier via EPA Others include opening the bloc’s carbon market to permanent CO2 removals — for example through capturing carbon directly from the air, a method as yet unavailable at scale — as well as “enhanced flexibility across sectors.” The remaining promises to EU countries are considerably more vague, with the Commission vowing to pay attention to everything from scientific advice and social impacts to cost-effectiveness and economic competitiveness in its policy framework for 2040. The 2040 target has been met with significant pushback from governments, with many sending Brussels long lists of conditions for supporting the goal. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron joined Poland and Hungary in demanding delays. The Commission in its draft proposal insists that “a 90% target puts the EU on the pathway which provides the greatest overall benefits in terms of competitiveness, resilience, independence, autonomy, a just transition and ensuring that the EU meets its commitments under the Paris Agreement.”