Denmark calls for EU-wide diesel and petrol car ban by 2040

Denmark, backed by 10 other European Union countries, on Friday called for an EU-wide ban on diesel and petrol cars by 2040 to combat climate change.

Euronews reports that Denmark made the proposal during a meeting of EU environment ministers in Luxembourg.

Denmark made headlines in October 2018 when its government announced that it would ban the sale of all fossil fuel-powered cars by 2030 but it subsequently scrapped the idea because this would have breached EU rules.

Reuters quotes Danish Climate and Energy Minister Dan Jorgensen saying that if the EU could not agree on a union-wide ban, it would be good if at least individual countries were allowed to implement such a measure.

“Plan A would be to make it a European ban,” he said.

Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and several other countries however suggested that more must be done to stop the “carbon leakage” of selling second-hand autos from western Europe to the eastern region.

Jorgensen said it was important to communicate the bloc’s long-term policy directions to carmakers. He said Denmark’s next step was to set up an alliance with the 10 member states that support its strategy to phase out diesel and petrol cars and the possibility to prohibit the sale of them in individual member states.

via Reuters /Euronews