Europeans give in to the arguments of the automobile industry

2023-09-25 17:51:40

The automobile industry won its case. Industry ministers Europeans agreed on Monday, September 25, not to require manufacturers to make additional efforts in terms of car exhaust emissions. Clearly, the Twenty-Seven do not want to ask them to invest in improving the performance of thermal engines, when after 2035, only electric cars will be able to be placed on the Community market.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Automotive: the Euro 7 environmental standard may not see the light of day

The European executive considered that while waiting for this deadline, it was necessary to increase the level of ambition of the requirements in terms of nitrogen oxide and fine particle emissions from thermal engines, in order to combat air pollution. air. Especially since the cars running on gasoline or diesel that will be produced in the coming years will be in circulation for a long time, well beyond 2035.

However, aware of the industrial and social revolution that manufacturers must undertake, the community executive presented, on November 10, 2022, a bill on new limits on polluting emissions – the so-called “Euro 7” standards, which will apply from 2025 –, which planned to reduce, in modest proportions, exhaust gas emissions compared to current standards (the Euro 6 standards, in force since 2014).

It was necessary to “find a happy medium”

Against a backdrop of sluggish growth and sustained inflation since the start of the war in Ukraine, several member states, first and foremost France, have begun to question the relevance of continuing the Green Deal. The Euro 7 legislative project paid the price, especially as the automobile industry argued that it would endanger its 14 million jobs and drive up car prices. A few months before the European elections, which will take place from June 6 to 9, 2024, she has been heard. “Since we decided together to abandon thermal engines, it is not necessarily essential to add regulation” on these engines, argues the French Minister for Industry, Roland Lescure.

The Twenty-Seven therefore revised downwards the ambitions of the text. It was necessary “find a balance between the need to improve air quality and the need to maintain the competitiveness of the European automotive industry”explains Spanish Secretary of State Pascual Ignacio Navarro Rios, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).

You have 57.26% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.

1695668640
#Europeans #give #arguments #automobile #industry

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.