Exclusive survey: Majority of Europeans in opposition to ban on combustion vehicles | EUROtoday

The majority of Europeans oppose a ban on vehicles with inner combustion engines. This was the results of a survey by “Politico” within the six EU international locations Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland and Belgium. 58 % of these surveyed opposed an EU requirement that might successfully ban combustion vehicles from 2035. The legislation is at the moment being revised in response to criticism from the auto trade and member states similar to Germany.

According to the worldwide survey “European Pulse”, which was carried out by the corporate Cluster17, the Belgians present the strongest rejection: 72 % are in opposition to the laws. Their resistance is even greater than within the core international locations of the European auto trade. In Germany, 60 % spoke out in opposition to a ban on the sale of latest combustion engines from 2035.

The fleet limits for CO₂emissions are supposed to contribute to the aim of constructing the Union climate-neutral by 2050. However, the design of the legislation fueled considerations concerning the competitiveness of the European auto trade in comparison with China and the USA.

The outcomes spotlight the battle between the needs of many customers and the EU Commission’s decarbonization plans. The EU handed a legislation in 2023 that requires all new autos produced from 2035 to have zero emissions within the exhaust.

Automakers argue that buyers’ transition to electrical vehicles is slower than anticipated. A ban on inner combustion engines might weaken Europe’s vital auto trade. It is already confronted with excessive vitality prices, sturdy competitors from technologically sturdy and sponsored Chinese suppliers and US tariffs.

The Commission introduced a automotive bundle in December. Combustion engines and blended drives ought to stay permitted past 2035 underneath strict circumstances. However, producers must offset emissions, for instance via inexperienced metal or various fuels.

The skepticism proven by the Politico ballot is just not new. A 2025 Deloitte survey discovered that 45 % of Belgian customers need their subsequent automotive to run on diesel or gasoline – regardless of tax incentives which have inspired the unfold of electrical autos.

At the identical time, vehicles with pure combustion engines have gotten much less well-liked within the EU. In February 2026, their market share fell by 8 proportion factors to 30.6 % in comparison with the earlier 12 months, as figures from the ACEA vehicle affiliation present. Instead, customers are more and more turning to hybrid autos, which have each a combustion engine and an electrical motor. Their market share was 39 % in February. Purely electrical vehicles attain a share of 18.8 %.

The Iran struggle and the next enhance in gasoline costs usually are not but taken into consideration within the survey. Early indicators level to extra curiosity in used electrical vehicles. Changes in new automotive gross sales will solely develop into obvious in a number of months because of the hole between ordering and supply of latest vehicles.

This article first appeared in English at Politico

The European Pulse survey was carried out by Cluster17 for Politico and beBartlet from March 13 to 21. 6,698 adults have been surveyed on-line, with at the least 1,000 members every from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. Results have been weighted for every nation to make sure representativeness when it comes to age, gender and geographical distribution.