Brussels, 08/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - MEPs on the European Parliament's transport committee say that the European Commission's proposals for clean fuel are ambitious, but like the Council of Ministers, the MEPs are worried about how the strategy will be financed (see EUROPE 10771 and 10803).
The Commission has laid down a quota for each country of charging points and the distance between them for clean fuel (electric, hydrogen and natural gas cars). The Commission estimates that this will cost at the very least €8 billion to adjust existing infrastructure. MEP Peter van Dalen (ECR, Netherlands) said that he wasn't convinced about the financing of the proposals and doubted that the member states were prepared to cooperate on this. Saïd El Khadraoui (S&D, Belgium) spoke on behalf of Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany) and said that the Socialists say it needs to be seen what kind of EU co-financing would be available. Some cash might be forthcoming from the Connecting Europe Facility, currently under discussion as part of the talks on the EU's multiannual financial framework (budget) for 2014-2020, but as Dominique Riquet (EPP, France) pointed out, there won't be enough cash and, although there's an EU fund, it won't have enough money for the investment needed.
Other concerns raised by the MEPs include the very tight timeline, as rapporteur Carlo Fidanza (EPP, Italy) pointed out, Eva Lichtenberger (Greens/EFA, Austria) called for technological neutrality, while Dominique Riquet called for a debate into a standard charging plug for electric cars (the Commission has chosen the German “Type 3” rather than the French “Type 2”). The Conservatives said the market must be left to decide.
A public hearing will be held on this subject on 18 June, following which the Fidanza Report will be unveiled in September and voted upon by the Transport Committee in November. (MD/transl.fl)