The Czech Republic rebels: it does not back the EU's plan to eliminate combustion engines by 2035

A few months ago the European Union took a step forward on sustainability and announced a series of decisions that will lead the automotive market to the elimination of combustion engines. But this, of course, only affects Europe. In recent days we have also learned that the states of California and New York, in the United States, have taken similar decisions. Yet within the European Union itself, dissenting voices are emerging that do not support this proposal.

The Czech Republic has been the country that has most firmly rejected this definitive date. In the words of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, the decision to reduce emissions seems very right to him, but the date set for the total disappearance of fossil-fuel combustion engines seems to him far too close.

According to him, the Czech Republic would be prepared to invest in an infrastructure of battery charging points for electrified cars. But what it does not contemplate is ceasing to manufacture cars with internal combustion engines. This is no trifling matter, since although it is a small country, with barely 10 million inhabitants, it has car factories that produce models of Skoda, Toyota and Hyundai.

The importance of the automotive industry in the Czech Republic makes the switch to electric mobility by 2035 unfeasible. According to the European Union’s sustainability plan, by 2030 a 55% reduction in polluting gas emissions compared with 2021 should be achieved. From that date to 2035, all combustion-engine models should disappear from the market. Only vehicles marketed before that date could remain, so it will represent a considerable change in the way mobility is understood in Europe.

Will this mean that the plan for the elimination of polluting gases could be compromised in Europe? It must be borne in mind that the Czech Republic will chair the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2022, so that is probably when it will take a position on the matter.