On Wednesday, representatives in the EU Parliament supported by a majority of votes the ban on the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles (ICE - Internal Combustion Engine) from 2035 in order to encourage the acceleration of Europe towards electromobility.

The vote is in line with the European Union's key plans to reduce total CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, a target that calls for faster reductions in emissions in industry, energy and transport. The MPs supported last year's European Commission proposal for a 100% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of new cars by 2035, and from then on the sale of fossil fuel vehicles in the Union would be impossible. The proposals of some representatives to reduce the target to 90% by 2035 were rejected. However, the law is not yet final. The vote just confirms the parliament's position for upcoming negotiations with member states on the final law. The intention is to speed up Europe's transition to electric vehicles and encourage car manufactures to invest more in electrification, further boosted by another law that will require member states to install millions of electric vehicle chargers.

"Buying and driving zero-emission cars will become cheaper for consumers," said Jan Huitema, the EU Parliament's chief policy negotiator. Manufacturers such as Ford and Volvo have publicly backed an EU plan to end sales of ICE vehicles by 2035, and others, including Volkswagen, are seeking to stop selling such vehicles in Europe by that date.

The German automotive industry association VDA lobbied to drop the 2035 target. Those groups have said that such a plan penalizes low-CO2 alternative fuels and that it is too early for such a commitment.

Yet as much as a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for warming the planet in Europe come from transport, and greenhouse gas levels in that sector have risen in recent years, complicating efforts to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.