“It’s not going to happen, it’s catastrophic”, Repsol's CEO doubts the ban on combustion cars in 2035

Last week the European Commission met with car manufacturers to discuss the future of the automotive sector in the coming years, with a target date on the agenda: 2035. By that year, as we already know, only electric cars will be allowed to be sold in our region.

However, although no definitive measures have been disclosed, several things seem clear: that Europe will maintain the date for 2035, or at least that’s what Ursula von der Leyen (the head of the Commission) conveys, and that there may be some leeway for the continuation of plug-in hybrid proposals, or at least that’s what the brands convey.

Having said all this, the different actors in the sector have tried, over the past few weeks, to express their views on these negotiations with European politicians. There are optimists and pessimists, and Repsol's CEO, Josu Jon Imaz, is clear about the 2035 ban.

“The damage is going to be very strong”

It’s not new for the head of Repsol and former politician of the PNV to speak out against the energy policies of the European Union, as he has demonstrated in the recent past. However, this time he made strong statements against the main and “catastrophic” objective of the Commission, that of 2035.

During “Finance”, the financial meeting point for companies in Donosti, Imaz stated that the ban for that year “is going to be reversed, it’s not going to happen”. The problem is that it may be too late, because the damage is going to be very strong. “There are other voices that assure it,” Imaz said, who accuses Europe of a “hyperregulated” policy.

There are several messages that Repsol's CEO left when analyzing the current situation in Europe. For example, that in Spain more fuel is being sold now than in 2019, when forecasts pointed to a reduction. What has been the main cause?

Well, our country still has a old vehicle fleet and it is taking a long time to renew it. “This is not happening because the energy policy is based on ideology and it is going to fail. All the political effort to extort the automotive sector is aimed at reducing CO2 emissions to zero,”

The main sin of Europe is “hyperregulation. We need fewer laws, less regulation, and greater simplicity,” says Repsol's CEO, who accuses Europe of continuing with the same working methods as in the last century.

For his part, the president of CIE Automotive, Antón Pradera, was also present at these sessions held in northern Spain and referred to the situation similarly to Imaz. “Europe is going to be the king of regulation,” he states, and poses a question to the top leaders regarding 2035. “What is going to be done, stop the country?,” he said, noting that by that date we will not even reach 25 percent of the market share for electric cars.

Fuente: El Periódico de la Energía