For a minute there, it looked like Europe was ready to shove internal combustion into a glass display case, hang a plaque that said “Bad, Do Not Touch,” and call it climate policy. Now, after a lot of pressure from automakers, unions, and at least one very pointed letter from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the European Union is walking that back.
At least a bit.
Instead of an outright 2035 death sentence for combustion engines, Brussels is signaling a pivot: new ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles will likely still be allowed after 2035, but only if they run on low-emission renewable fuels like advanced biofuels and synthetic e-fuels.
