Italy’s Meloni slams ‘ideological madness’ of EU ban on gas and diesel cars

By Tommaso Lecca | 06/26/2024 01:01 PM EDT

It’s part of a growing resistance to the 2035 measure.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends a welcome ceremony  on June 13, 2024 in Fasano, Italy.

“The green perspective has been pursued even at the cost of sacrificing entire production and industrial sectors, such as the automotive industry,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

The ban on the sale of new gas or diesel cars in the EU from 2035 “makes no sense” and the Italian government will work to “correct” it, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Wednesday.

“Reducing polluting emissions is the path we want to follow, but with common sense,” Meloni said in a speech to the Italian parliament ahead of the EU leaders’ summit starting Thursday.

“The green perspective has been pursued even at the cost of sacrificing entire production and industrial sectors, such as the automotive industry,” Meloni added, criticizing the 2035 measure she said would “condemn [Europe] to new strategic dependencies, such as China’s electric [vehicles].”

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“To argue otherwise was simply an ideological madness that we will work to correct,” Meloni said. Reducing pollution should not be done “at the expense of economic and social sustainability, [but] defending and promoting European production and safeguarding tens of thousands of jobs.”

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