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Most Europeans oppose giving up combustion engine cars despite the EU’s efforts to phase them out within the next decade, according to a POLITICO survey.

The survey found that 58 percent of respondents across six countries oppose an EU law that effectively bans combustion engine cars from 2035 — which is now being revamped under growing political pressure from the auto industry and some member countries.

It’s a sign of the growing opposition to one of the EU’s most important pieces of green legislation — aimed at making the bloc carbon neutral by 2050. But climate change efforts are facing pushback as worries grown about competitiveness against China and the U.S. and industrial survival.

Belgians show the strongest opposition, with 72 percent saying they oppose the legislation, the poll shows. Their opposition even outranks those in the heartland of Europe’s car industry, with 60 percent of Germans coming out against the 2035 legislation.

The European Pulse survey, conducted by Cluster17 for POLITICO and beBartlet, polled 6,698 Europeans across Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Belgium from March 13 to March 21.

The views highlight the clash between what consumers want and the Commission’s broader decarbonization efforts.

The EU overcame fierce political resistance and in 2023 approved legislation that mandates new vehicles produced from 2035 onward be zero-emission at the tailpipe.

Less than two years later, the legislation came under attack from automakers and their political backers, who argued consumers’ transition to electric vehicles was happening at a slower-than-anticipated pace. They said the combustion engine ban risked making Europe’s prized auto sector — already facing high energy costs, stiff competition from Chinese incumbents with better technology and Donald Trump’s tariffs — even less competitive.

To help the industry, the Commission put forward an automotive package in December that would allow combustion engines and other powertrains long past 2035, so long as automakers offset emissions with things like green steel and alternative fuels.

The skepticism shown by the POLITICO poll isn’t new. A Deloitte 2025 survey found that 45 percent of Belgian consumers want their next car to be powered by diesel or gasoline, despite the government’s favorable corporate tax policies that have boosted electric vehicle adoption rates.

However, sales data paints a different picture. Combustion engine cars are on the decline across the EU, with their combined market share dropping 8 percentage points in February 2026 compared with a year earlier to a combined 30.6 percent, according to figures from car lobby ACEA.

Instead, consumers are turning toward hybrids that have both a combustion engine and an electric motor, with the market share of hybrids standing at 39 percent in February, ACEA data shows. Battery-powered cars have an 18.8 percent share.

The war in Iran and the resulting surge in energy prices could change attitudes; there are early signs of an uptick in interest in used EVs, although automotive experts warn any change in new car sales won’t be seen for months due to a lag between orders and deliveries.

Those market shifts are happening as EU institutions continue to battle over just how much of a place to give fast-declining combustion engines in reform of the 2035 law.

The European Pulse was conducted by Cluster17 for POLITICO and beBartlet from March 13 to 21, surveying 6,698 adults online, with at least 1,000 respondents each from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. Results for each country were weighted to be representative on dimensions including age, gender and geography.