Europe’s path to a cleaner automotive sector – What are the opportunities and challenges?
03-02-2026
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The European Commission has published its proposals to revise its Car CO2 Regulation and to introduce national targets for Clean Corporate Vehicles as part of its Automotive Package. These initiatives aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while strengthening Europe’s automotive competitiveness. The Package is part of the broader Clean Industrial Deal, announced in February 2025, to accelerate decarbonisation and enhance industrial competitiveness across all sectors.
By allowing combustion engines to still play a role in new vehicles beyond 2035, the Commission says it will provide the flexibility manufactures need to achieve the car CO2 targets. At the same time, by stimulating demand through zero and low-emission corporate fleets, the EU seeks to drive the transition to clean mobility and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
However, e-mobility companies and climate experts have raised concerns that the new CO2 rules could weaken the market signal for zero-emission vehicles and delay investments in their production. They could affect the European automotive sector’s global competitiveness and slow innovation rather than supporting a stable and ambitious clean-mobility transition. They see corporate fleet targets as key to driving demand for electric vehicles made in Europe.
Other stakeholders argue that gaining credits for the use of green steel, as well as meeting local content requirements in vehicles, would be complex and expensive. It would make manufacturers’ compliance with CO2 targets subject to factors they cannot control. Some also argue that corporate fleet targets are the wrong instrument to tackle the challenges companies most face in adopting zero and low emission vehicles.
Join this Euractiv Hybrid Conference to discuss the European Commission’s Car CO2 and Clean Corporate Vehicles proposals. Questions to be addressed include:
• What are the implications of the new Car CO2 and Clean Corporate Vehicles proposals for the automotive sector?
• How can demand instruments, such as the Corporate Fleets Regulation, support carmakers in meeting their 2030 and 2035 targets while advancing EU’s climate goals?
• How can the EU design flexibility mechanisms that support both industrial innovation and automotive decarbonisation?
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Supported by:
Location
Hybrid
Brussels Network Office - International Press Centre
1 Bd Charlemagne // 2nd floor
Panellists
William Todts
Executive Director, T&E
Sebastian Schaffer
Head of EU Group Representation, Volkswagen Group
More to be announced soon.
Moderator
Jack Parrock
Euractiv
Schedule
16:00 - 16:05 Welcome
16:05 - 16:15 First keynote speech
16:15 - 16:25 Second keynote speech
16:25 - 16:30 Presentation of T&E Report on the Car CO2 Regulation and Fleets Regulation proposals by Lucien Mathieu and Stef Cornelis
16:30 - 16:40 Panellist statements
16:40 - 17:25 Discussion and Q&A
17:25 - 17:30 Closing statements
Followed by a light networking reception.
Contact
Juliette Burton
juliette.burton@euractiv.com