The “backtrack” that everyone is talking about… and which is not yet a law
For a few days now, headlines have been looping: “Brussels cancels the end of the combustion engine,” “the internal combustion engine is saved,” “2035 buried.”
It’s catchy, it shares well… and it mixes everything up.
The reality is that the rule has not been repealed overnight. What has changed is that the European Commission has
officially proposed a modification. And this modification does not resemble a rebirth of the combustion engine.
It resembles a “zero emissions… with an asterisk”.
What 2035 meant until now: “zero at the tailpipe” for new vehicles
The 2035 target primarily aims at the new vehicle market. Not your right to drive, not the existing fleet, not used cars.
It is a target on emissions from new vehicles placed on the market: in short, a “zero emissions at the tailpipe” in philosophy.
Simple translation: it was not a police force coming to seize your car. It was a de facto ban on selling “classic” gasoline/diesel new vehicles,
because an internal combustion engine emits CO₂ at the tailpipe, even if it has very good manners.
What Brussels is proposing now: moving from 100% to 90% by 2035
The line that is setting social media on fire is as follows: the 2035 target would move from 100% to 90% reduction.
In other words: we would keep an extremely ambitious target… but we would leave some leeway.
So no, Brussels is not saying: “the combustion engine is back.”
Brussels is saying: “we keep a very high target… but we open a door.”
The “10% margin”: the narrow (and highly regulated) door that sparks fantasies
This margin would not be a “free pass.” The idea is to use compensation mechanisms via “credits”:
on one side, industrial levers (e.g., low-carbon materials/steel), on the other, so-called sustainable fuels (biofuels, e-fuels).
And this is where the debate changes nature: we talk less about engines… and more about credits, certifications, ceilings,
and this very European question: “Who has the right to count what, and how?”
No, Europe has not “backtracked”: it has opened a negotiation
Crucial point: a proposal from the Commission is not the final law. To change the rule, a European-level agreement is needed
(Parliament + States). And here, the negotiation can harden, soften… or drag on.
If you want a clean sentence, without folklore:
Europe is not officially retreating — it is initiating a revision that could dilute the “zero” of 2035.
Why Brussels is moving now: because the market is not following the PowerPoint scenario
The official discourse talks about competitiveness, employment, a “manageable” transition, and flexibility.
The subtext is less poetic: prices, infrastructure, acceptability, competition, industrial pace… and electoral realities.
This is the moment when politics catches up with the symbolic date. And when politics catches up with a date, it often puts a service door on it.
The real truth: the combustion engine is not saved, it becomes a conditional product
Even if the proposal were to pass, we would not return to the world of before. A 90% target remains a massive target:
new vehicles would be very predominantly electrified (or equivalent).
What the proposal mainly creates is a safety valve: a space for certain vehicles (plug-in hybrids, intermediate architectures)
and, possibly, “authorized” combustion engines but capped, controlled, and very likely more expensive.
Simple image: Brussels is not resurrecting the combustion engine. It is preparing a VIP room for it:
entry by list, bracelet at the reception… and a hefty bill.
What to remember (if you want to understand, not just comment)
The phrase “Europe abandons the end of the combustion engine” is too short to be true.
The exact version, the one that fits the mechanics:
- The 2035 target is not “cancelled” in the texts as long as a new rule is not voted on.
- The Commission has opened a rewrite: moving from “strict zero” to “almost zero + compensation.”
- The combustion engine does not return as a king: at best, it survives as a minority, under conditions, in a compromise zone.
