(Bloomberg) -- The Czech government backed calls to soften decarbonization targets for European carmakers as they grapple with a drop in demand for electric vehicles and intensifying competition from China.
The European Union must loosen its emissions targets for next year and bring forward a review of its goal to ban combustion engines from 2035, according to Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Slower-than-expected EV sales mean the industry is facing onerous fines and a loss of competitiveness, he told reporters on Friday.
“The reality doesn’t match the expectations with which these targets were adopted,” Fiala said in Prague during a joint press conference with Transport Minister Martin Kupka and the head of the central European country’s Automotive Industry Association, Martin Jahn.
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