An EU with a green color that is losing intensity

The green transition in the European Union (EU) is becoming increasingly less vibrant. The radical change in the roadmap that the bloc had established for the phasing out of combustion engine cars is proof of this. There is a big difference between prohibiting its sale from 2035 onwards and removing this limitation.Pressure from the automotive industry, which wields considerable influence in countries like Germany, has ultimately weakened the European Commission's regulations. And this is not the only setback—or, as the European Commission calls it, a relaxation—of the EU's climate plan for the automotive sector. Not long ago, it also postponed for three years the entry into force of sanctions against automotive groups that fail to meet CO₂ emissions standards. And the previous Commission, also headed by Ursula von der Leyen, who retained her mandate after last year's European elections, had already relaxed environmental requirements following protests by European farmers.

The current political environment, with the rise of far-right political options and right-wing populism, which oppose policies to combat a climate crisis they deny, and with a European Commission with a conservative majority, makes it easier for environmental regulations to be watered down in favor of the interests of dominant industries. As with many economic activities, those with significant market dominance tend to focus on retaining what they have or making efforts to prevent the arrival of new competitors. But in the end, consumer choice always prevails. Changes in habits and preferences are what make some options win and others lose. And electric vehicles aren't gaining more traction because European manufacturers are dragging their feet on transforming and also because there isn't a real effort being made to establish widespread charging infrastructure.

One of the problems facing Germany, the great European engine, and a real burden, is its heavy reliance on traditional industries like the automotive sector, leaving it behind China in the electric vehicle arena.

But the truth is that a large portion of consumers have changed their mindset and see hybrid or electric vehicles not only as the vehicle of the future but as the vehicle of the present. There is much greater environmental awareness and a willingness to buy them if the offer is attractive. That's why Seat has just launched a battery plant for electric cars in Martorell and expects that half of the 600,000 vehicles that will leave the factory annually will be electric. This gives them at least one tool to face the Chinese threat. Others are looking to partner with Chinese brands.

If European producers don't do it, industries like the Chinese giant Chery will. Chery is participating in the Ebro project at the former Nissan factory in Barcelona's Zona Franca and has prospects of expanding its operations. And there are possibilities for further arrivals that could flood Europe with affordable electric cars to meet growing demand in the face of the obstacles imposed in the US by a climate change-denying and decidedly environmentally unfriendly administration.