In a letter addressed to all member state transport ministers on Monday 17 July, of which EUROPE has been able to obtain a copy, the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, expresses her concern about impact that local level bans on diesel cars could have on the automobile sector, consumers and, more generally, on the transport decarbonisation process.
In her letter, the Commissioner explains, “while I am convinced that we should rapidly head for zero-emission vehicles in Europe, policymakers and industry cannot have an interest in a rapid collapse of the diesel market in Europe as a result of local driving bans”. She also criticises local level diesel vehicle traffic bans decided in certain cities.
Increasing numbers of cities, such as Paris and Stuttgart are moving forward on this issue and intend to introduce a ban on diesel vehicles. The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is, for example, planning to ban access to the French capital for diesel vehicles as from 2020.
The Commissioner believes that this would be the wrong approach on several different counts. Firstly, it will hit European consumers who own diesel vehicles and who are waiting for “clean diesel”. Ms Bieńkowska indicates that the latter would see the price of diesel cars on the second hand market collapse. She believes that, above all, the collapse of the diesel market would deprive the industry of funds needed to invest in “zero emission” vehicles.
The Commissioner is therefore seeking to look at “alternatives” and is calling on ministers to begin a “proactive” political dialogue with the automobile industry, in an effort to reduce nitric oxide emissions (NOX). In this regard, the Commissioner considers that they must go further than the proposals put on the table for renewing the European type approval system, currently being discussed by the co-legislators (see EUROPE 11787) – and that they will need additional “voluntary” measures from the automobile industry to reverse the trend in NOX emissions. She is also calling on the member states to take action as soon as possible with regard to manufacturers to ensure that they recall non-compliant vehicles and subsequently adapt them, which she points out, Germany has done.
A European agency in the long term? The Commissioner criticised the lack of efficiency displayed by the monitoring authorities and in this context highlighted the importance of building mutual trust between the monitoring authorities. She argues that if this trust does not prevail, even the new type approval and marketing monitoring system for vehicles will not work. She also refers that in this connection, the “only alternative” would be to set up a European agency.
Reorganisation of services. The Commissioner also indicated that she would like to introduce a number of organisational changes, particularly at a ‘Type-Approval Authorities Expert Group’ – TAAEG level. In this regard, Ms Bieńkowska is proposing to extend work to promote the exchange of information on national measures taken to reduce NOX emissions. She adds that an electronic platform will also be set up by the Commission in an effort to make the information exchange secure.
According to a spokesperson for Transport & Environment, NOX reduction measures are not enough, given the urgency of the situation. According to this organisation, NOX emission levels from diesel vehicles are above those for petrol vehicles and local level bans will therefore not suffice. (Pascal Hansens)