People check out a Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle at a showroom Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in China [File: Yilei Sun/Reuters]

Brussels, June 9 (RHC)-- The European Parliament has approved a draft law that prohibits the sale of new carbon dioxide-emitting vehicles and is set to take effect in 2035.

The vote upholds a key pillar of the European Union’s plans to cut net planet-warming emissions 55 percent by 2030, from 1990 levels – a target that requires faster emissions reductions from industry, energy and transport.

Lawmakers supported a proposal, made by the European Commission last year, to require a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035, which would make it impossible to sell fossil fuel-powered vehicles in the EU from that date onward.

“Fifteen percent of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from road transport. Cutting these emissions is vital if we’re going to reach our climate goals,” a group of Green Party EU lawmakers tweeted after the vote on Wednesday.

The aim is to speed Europe’s shift to electric vehicles and embolden carmakers to invest heavily in electrification, aided by another EU law that will require countries to install millions of vehicle chargers.

“Purchasing and driving zero-emission cars will become cheaper for consumers,” said Jan Huitema, the European Parliament’s lead negotiator on the policy.