Junking strict self-driving car rules

EU proposes junking strict self-driving car rules in Trump trade talk gambit

The concession is the latest offering from the bloc and marks a dramatic policy shift to end the trade war kicked off by U.S. President Donald Trump.

By Jürgen Klöckner and Jordyn Dahl

Brussels is offering to water down its tough rules on autonomous cars and adopt looser U.S. regulations in its latest effort to get the Trump administration to retreat on the tariffs it slapped on imported cars and car parts.

The measure was included in a scoping document of proposed compromises sent to EU member countries on May 19, a person with knowledge of the document told POLITICO.

It was discussed again on Monday evening in a meeting among German Economy Minister Katharina Reiche, EU trade czar Maroš Šefčovič and the CEOs of German automakers BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, according to a separate person close to the meeting.

In the hour-long video call, the executives voiced concerns around negotiations and the 25 percent tariffs facing both vehicle imports and automotive parts. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is headed to Washington this week to meet with U.S. officials to discuss trade policy.

The offer on self-driving is a dramatic change for the Commission. Refusal to budge on car standards helped tank a sweeping transatlantic trade deal a decade ago; the willingness of Brussels to give way now is a signal of how far the bloc is willing to go to end the trade war kicked off by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The U.S. and the EU have very different rules on the technology, with the EU following regulations developed by the United Nations while the U.S. does not.

The U.S. has a self-certification model where automakers essentially promise that their vehicles comply with the standards. In the EU, vehicles go through a type approval process where authorities verify the cars meet standards.

That has made it much more difficult to use the tech in Europe, something that angers U.S. carmakers like Tesla.

The technology is already on the roads in the U.S. thanks to robotaxis like Waymo that operate in bigger cities such as San Francisco or Phoenix. Some self-driving features have long been included in Tesla's models.

Tesla has an autopilot feature that allows it to steer, brake and accelerate on its own, which Tesla describes as a "driver-assisted system," along with a so-called Full Self-Driving update that allows the car to make lane changes without driver input — although it does not meet the definition of self-driving.

In the EU, meanwhile, a system like Tesla's can only be activated on divided roads that prohibit pedestrians and cyclists where speeds are limited to a maximum of 130 kilometers per hour.

The EU is developing recommendations for a European framework for testing automated driving vehicles on public roads.

The Commission declined to comment.

The automotive sector is eager for a deal to be signed as the 25 percent tariff on all vehicle imports is destroying their U.S. businesses. The extra taxes are having the greatest impact on Germany's carmakers, which accounted for 73 percent of vehicles exported from the EU to the U.S. in 2024, according to research platform JATO Dynamics.

Despite the proposed retreat on self-driving regulations, the Trump administration is unlikely to grant a sectoral reprieve without a broader trade deal, said a person with knowledge of the negotiations who was granted anonymity because they're not permitted to speak to media.

"It feels that the leverage they have on the automotive sector is particularly significant. They would lose leverage that they could use to extract concessions in other areas," the person said.