A total ban on the sale of all cars running on petrol or diesel within the European Union is rumoured to be one of the 12 proposals which the European Commission will propose on Wednesday as part of its climate package.
This Wednesday, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans will be presenting the Commission's 'Fit for 55' climate package to implement the European Climate Law, which lays down the framework for European climate policy for the next 30 years.
The proposal as part of the European Climate Law, which was reached in April this year, and makes legal obligations of the goals stipulated by the European Green Deal, will go as far as to ban hybrid cars in favour of electric cars.
Taking all combustion engine cars off European roads would be achieved by phasing out the standard for CO2 emissions per kilometre, which is currently 95g/km, but would be reduced to 0g/km by 2035, which is a de facto ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.
This essentially means that suppliers would have to pay a higher price for their fuels.
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Meanwhile, to boost the sale and use of electric vehicles, the Commission is expected to propose that motorways should have charging stations every 150 kilometres.
The various proposals that will be announced on Wednesday range from increasing renewables targets to establishing a CO2 border tax, which is expected to raise around €10 billion per year, and should protect EU companies from competitors from third countries that do not have to comply with European climate rules.
The aim of legalising the Green Deal goals is to ensure greenhouse gas emissions is reduced by at least 55% by 2030 compared to the reference year 1990, whilst from 2050, the EU should no longer emit any net greenhouse gases.
However, several European trade partners, including Russia, have already reacted with concern ahead of the proposal announcement, saying that they risk becoming the victims of the border tax, whilst key industry groups in the bloc have been actively lobbying against several proposals under the 'Fit for 55' package.
