European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski holds a press conference on the European Union's action plan "For the development of organic production: on the way to 2030," in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday. The plan's aim is to boost production and consumption of organic products and to reach 25 percent of farmland used for organic farming by 2030. Photo: AFP

 The EU unveils a plan Wednesday to meet its bold green pledge of carbon neutrality by 2050, at the risk of triggering an epic political clash over electric cars and fuel prices.

The dozen draft legal texts are intended to transform the European economy from fossil fuel dependency to a world of net-zero emissions, low pollution and battery-powered transport.

Drawn up by the European Commission, the EU's executive, the plan effectively bans the sale of new petrol-driven cars from 2035, one of the boldest moves against gas-guzzlers ever, and one that has already raised concerns in Paris and Berlin.

The proposals, to be announced by the European Commission's environment supremo Vice President Frans Timmermans, will also seek to breathe new life into the EU's flawed Emissions Trading System (ETS), the world's biggest carbon market, where industry pays for the right to pollute.

Once announced, the laws will snake their way through the EU's legislative system amid high-stakes horse-trading in the European Parliament and among the bloc's 27 member states, egged on by industry lobbyists and green activists.

The jockeying has already begun, with powerful interests fighting hard to win special treatment - or extra time - before the constraints of a greener Europe come into force.

Some corporations, meanwhile, are careful to say they would welcome some of the plans.