Overview
- Speaking at Elkargi’s Foro Finanza in Tabakalera, Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz called Brussels’ pressure on the auto sector “extortion” and said keeping the 2035 combustion‑engine ban would be catastrophic without solid industrial alternatives.
- Imaz urged a technology‑neutral approach built on competitiveness, warning that ideologically fixed phaseout dates could damage Europe’s industrial base.
- Antón Pradera, president of CIE Automotive, said hyperregulation is asphyxiating industry and underscored Europe’s loss of political and economic weight.
- He criticized incentives limited to zero‑emission vehicle purchases and praised the Basque Government’s Plan Renove as a technology‑neutral model.
- Imaz cautioned that current policies risk exporting emissions and production to Asia, pointing to cheaper battery costs in China, and he predicted the ban will be reversed.